Page 31 of Villa of Secrets

A little river of urine snaked behind the wheel, followed by the dog’s nose.

‘Oi!’ a soldier shouted, marching over.

I pressed myself into the hollow of the metal wheel, terrified I’d be seen. From the corner of my eye, I watched the soldier’s hand come down and grab the pup by his tail just centimetres from me. He dragged the wriggling dog from under the truck, put his foot under its ribs and flicked it off the quayside into the sea.

Oh!

I almost cried out. The soldiers laughed and moved towards the ships. I searched the ghostly faces of the captives. At least my family were all on the one ship, except I hadn’t seen Jacob or Mama. They couldn’t be going far, not packed together like that with the strengthening sun beating down.

Where was Mama? My mind screamed her name in the hope that she’d respond and I’d get a bearing.

I know this sort of thing works because once, when I thought about Irini, she knocked on our door less than a minute later, and many times I have heard people say, ‘I was just thinking about you.’ Another time, when Evangelisa’s cat had disappeared, I really focused on telling Cleo how much she was missed. That very afternoon, the cat returned.

Mama! It’s me, your Dora. I’m under the lorry! Look this way, I want to see you!

My father had blood in his white hair. He gazed over his shoulder to the quayside and then struggled to turn around in the tightly packed bodies. Although a distance away, I knew he searched for me. As I stared at him, he lifted two fingers over each ear and wiggled them.

Little rabbit, run, little rabbit!

I felt the ghost of his fingers racing up my ribs when I was younger, tickling my armpits until I screamed for him to stop.

Oh, Papa!

In seconds, he was gone. Pushed back by the surge of more people being forced onto his ship.

I understood that Papa was telling me to run. I dragged my eyes from the vessel to take stock, and crouched to get a better view of my surroundings. The sun was up, bathing everything in harsh light.

Fifty metres of quayside lay between me and a ferry ticket stand, my only cover. Nine exposed metres between me and the dockside. I was a good swimmer. I could hang on to a tyre dangling to protect the ships’ paintwork until the coast was clear, then swim for shore.

When the British bombs started falling, I’d be safer in the sea than under a Nazi truck.

I stared at the horizon. Where were the planes of our new allies? Though the British were always bombing us and had killed many of my friends, they would make a great diversion for my escape. A splash on the water distracted me. A seagull landed, and another, then even more. This was not my day. If I jumped into the sea now, the rising birds were sure to attract attention.

I stared at the ships again. My father peered in my direction. I stuck one arm out and gave a quick wave, before retreating behind the rear wheel.

Please, please, please let him see me.

When I peeked out again, Papa had one arm horizontally across the front of his chest, and the other behind it making a rabbit shape, like when he used to make shadows on the wall for me and Evangelisa, years ago. My heart melted. Papa forgets I’m a woman now.

The siren continued to howl, but apart from enemy soldiers, a couple of dock workers, and the entire Jewish community, there wasn’t a soul to be seen. Then I had a frightening thought. If the British bombers came, they’d surely blow the ships, and the people, and my truck to pieces! Horrified, I stared at the sky.

Chapter 15

Rhodes, Greece.

Naomi’s elbow slid off the arm of the chair. She woke with a start, her heart racing. The day had fallen into darkness, the diary open in her lap.

She pulled herself up and went inside for a coffee. Rebecca would have received the gun by now. If she still lived at the same address, that is. The thought worried Naomi: her sister could have moved over the years. Why hadn’t she thought of that before? A total stranger may have received the gun parts, and, even worse, handed them to the police. The whole idea had been ludicrous, and she deeply regretted giving in to Bubba and Papas Yiannis’s plan.

The following hour drifted by in a breathless haze filled with words never said, questions never asked, and hope that all of this would sort itself out. She had tried to phone Rebecca’s old mobile, but found it unavailable. She phoned directory enquiries, gave Rebecca’s address, and scribbled down the number.

Why hadn’t that occurred to her sooner, too?

Naomi keyed in the number. The phone, an old-fashioned affair, needed a good clean. Not long ago her house had been spotless. Lately, she had let things slide a little, not finding enough hours in a day for everything.

Knowing she was about to open old wounds, her trepidation rose. If she didn’t handle this right, it might turn nasty and rip them all further apart.

Would Rebecca realise something important must have happened for her sister to call? Naomi longed to hear her voice. She punched in the long number, misdialled, and started again. Her heart thudded and her fingernails drummed on the worktop as she waited for her sister to pick up; then she realised she had no idea what to say. She hung up.