Page 46 of Villa of Secrets

We took it in turns to dip our hands into the bucket and then dry them on an old towel folded on the table. Everyone watched me. I nodded, and we started on the bread.

‘Wait!’ Giovanni said arrogantly. ‘We can’t start until we’ve said Grace.’

We stared at him. He touched his forehead, chest, and each shoulder, put his hands together, and said, ’For what we are about to receive, may The Lord make us truly grateful.’ He looked at us in turn and said, ‘Say, Amen.’ We did. ‘What are you waiting for? Eat!’ he said.

We ate ravenously, stuffing meat and bread in our mouths and gulping cold water collected from the nearby spring.

We’d barely satisfied ourselves when Giovanni sighed, looking from Irini to me. ‘You’ll have to pay me. One ewe and two lambs, right?’

‘One ewe, and we’ll shear the sheep ourselves,’ I said.

‘Ha! You’ve no idea how to shear.’

‘We’ll learn, don’t fret. You can have a lamb in exchange for three sets of shears.’

‘Three lambs for three shears,’ he replied.

‘You get two lambs and a ewe. I get three shears, and you show me how to use them. That’s it. Deal?’ I asked.

‘One ewe and two lambs in exchange for a meeting with the Andartes and three sets of shears, okay, and I’ll give you a hand to round up the sheep.’

I nodded once.

He spat on his palm, wiped it down his trouser leg, and held out his hand.

I did the same. We shook hands and Giovanni stood to leave.

‘Wait!’ Evangelisa cried again. ‘Dora, prayers please.’

Giovanni rolled his eyes. ‘Not again . . .’

‘It would be nice if Irini did the honours; what do you say, Evangelisa?’ I asked. She nodded.

Irini said, ‘Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who feeds the whole world with thy goodness, with grace, with loving kindness and tender mercy. Thy great goodness food hath never failed us. O may it never fail us for ever and ever for thy great name’s sake, since thou nourishes and sustains all beings and does good unto all, and provides food for all thy creatures whom thou hast created. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who gives food unto all.’

‘Grief!’ Giovanni exclaimed. ‘You Jews are a long-winded lot. My turn now.’

He crossed himself again, put his hands together and said, ‘Thank God for a good meal, Amen.’ He glanced at each of us and said, ‘You may leave the table.’ He turned to me. ‘Right, I’ll talk to the Andartes, then I’ll help get the sheep up.’

*

When Giovanni returned he had a swagger in his walk. ‘Nathanial, the Andartes leader, will see you at noon tomorrow.’ He stuck his chest out and did a head waggle. When he grinned, an odd little spark exploded inside me and I realised I was grinning back.

It seemed a long wait, but I had no choice.

‘Let’s get the sheep,’ Giovanni said. ‘You’ll need sticks. Hold your arms out to herd them. Don’t chase sheep that break away; the dog’ll bring them back, right?’

Excited by the challenge, I thought herding couldn’t be too difficult, could it?

Giovanni strolled to the pens and threw a sack down. ‘That’s your shears. I’ll give you a lesson later.’

Chapter 21

Bromley, London.

Rebecca listened to the ringtone and knew that it would be Naomi. Her sister was waiting for her to pick up. She’d rehearsed what to say when they spoke next: that she didn’t want to get involved. What was the point? The Greeks weren’t going to give the Jewish population their belongings back. She hovered, hesitated, and finally picked up. The call had timed out.

Why was all this happening now? Rebecca was six weeks pregnant for the first time in her life. At the clinic, they told her all the signs were good. Each day, each hour, was lived on the knife edge of hope. She decided to tell Fritz the brilliant news that evening, unable to keep it from him any longer.