Page 113 of Villa of Secrets

Where could I go? I turned, but knew I would not make it back up the mountain. The wind changed again. Smoke enveloped me. A tree, only metres away, cracked open with an explosion of flames. ‘Help me!’ I screamed, falling on my knees onto the road, sure the flames would reach me any moment. Heat rolled over me in suffocating waves. My throat burned raw with each breath, and my eyes stung so badly I couldn’t see where I was going.

I gave up the struggle and lay on the road.

Moments later, I became aware of strong arms lifting me and running, German voices, distant, shouting. Water on my face. Someone patting my cheeks, then everything rushed away.

I resurfaced prostrate on a blanket at the side of the road. A young German soldier I recognised instantly lifted my head and held a cantina to my lips.

‘Drink, drink,’ Gustave said.

I gulped the sweet water.

Someone called him. ‘Leave here as soon as you can. Do you understand?’ he whispered.

I nodded, an odd feeling that Nathanial was looking down and smiling. A life for a life. ‘Thank you, sir,’ I whispered.

As soon as Gustave returned to his troop, I got to my feet. My legs were shaky. My baby seemed heavier than ever and I walked in a most ungainly way. I had to escape before someone asked for my ID.

I continued down the hill, hiding in roadside shrubbery whenever a vehicle approached. Nearing the village, my back ached so badly my knees buckled and I had to squat until the pain eased.

The journey seemed endless. I arrived in Paradissi Village in the early hours. Spartili Street lay in darkness, deathly quiet. Our home was boarded over and that broke my heart. The house was the symbol of my beloved family even though they were all gone. I sensed the essence of them, lingering there to comfort me. In reality, I found only shutters and eerie silence.

Fumbling blindly, I tried to remove the planks, but they were firmly nailed down.

A door across the street opened and I recognised the priest’s voice. ‘Who’s there!’ he called.

I cowered, but there was nowhere to hide and in my condition running wasn’t an option.

‘It’s me, Pandora Cohen,’ I said as loud as I dared.

The papas scurried over.

‘Child! Oh, glory to God! I thought you’d been taken to Auschwitz with the others. Where’s your family?’

‘They’re gone but I escaped. I want to go home, please, that’s all. I won’t be any trouble.’ My heart was breaking with sorrow. To be so close to our home and my bed, and be thwarted.

The priest sighed. ‘Sorry, child, the house is closed. I did it myself to keep the vultures out. I hoped one day somebody would return.’ He hugged me and, in doing so, recognised my condition.

‘Oh, Dora.’

I broke down right there in his arms. He held me for a while, muttering ‘It will be all right. Don’t fret now. Trust in God; He’ll take care of you.’ When I regained control, he steered me across the street into his own house.

As I stood in the priest’s living room, his wife, Mrs Spanaki, came downstairs in her flannelette nightgown and a hand-knitted cardigan that was buttoned up wrong. Her long grey hair, plaited, hung down her back. She was a homely woman with a kind face.

Mrs Spanaki and the priest seemed to have aged a lot since I’d left Spartili Street. Her eyes flicked down to my expanded belly. ‘Oh, my poor child, let’s take care of you.’

She fussed, making me drink mountain tea and eat her homemade bread drizzled with olive oil, which was so delicious it satiated my hunger.

‘Sleep on our sofa tonight, Dora,’ the priest said. ‘Tomorrow, we’ll sort out your house. Good night, God keep you safe.’

‘When’s your confinement, Dora?’ Mrs Spanaki asked.

I shrugged, ‘I hope it’s soon. The walk down the mountain has given me a dreadful backache.’

‘Goodness me. You look engaged and about to drop the baby. Do you have anything ready for the mite?’

I shook my head. ‘It’s been difficult, hiding all these months.’ I leaned forward and rubbed my lower back. ‘The Andartes told me the armistice will be announced in the next day or two, so I thought I’d take a chance and come home.’

‘You did right.’ She paused and stared at me. ‘Is that really true? Peace at last?’