Page 93 of Villa of Secrets

The graze across my thigh hurt like hell. I struggled into my dress and bid goodbye to the Embonas men, who were dressing the soldier’s wounds.

As I turned to go, the soldier yelled weakly, ‘Oy!’ He thumped himself in the chest, winced, and said, ‘Sergeant Tommy Bloomberg!’ then he pointed at me.

‘Rhodes Freedom Fighter Pandora Cohen,’ I said. I stood tall and saluted him.

He flicked his hand to his forehead, smiled wearily, then held out his good arm and we shook. Nathanial grinned, and I sensed the men’s eyes on my back as I climbed to the crevice. After retrieving the two machine guns, I placed them in Nathanial’s lap, saluted him, and walked away.

With the sergeant in capable hands, my job at Kamiros Scala was done. I seemed more adept at handling Zeus each time I rode and as I sat in the saddle, I contemplated all that had happened. I had killed again and with all the stress of the night, I hadn’t considered my actions until that moment. When I recalled pulling the trigger, my emotions got the better of me and I trembled so violently I feared I would fall out of the saddle.

I walked Zeus off the road, leaned forward, and hugged his neck. He stood perfectly still while I cried. Although this sounds perfectly ridiculous, I sensed he understood what I was feeling, and his placid sturdiness helped me to recover my senses.

When I urged him back to the road, he made a quiet snicker, as if to say, ‘Better now?’

I wondered if my actions really did help to end the war. Would there be a chain reaction that led to the release of Papa and all my family? I imagined someone unlocking Papa’s door and saying, ‘You’re free to go. You can thank Pandora for this.’ My heart sored as I evoked Papa’s wide smile and his reply. ‘I always believed she’d come to our rescue.’

I could see his face again but it only made me cry once more.

I recalled Giovanni’s words, They’s killin’ them all, and I crushed that sentence to dust in my mind. Even the Nazis couldn’t simply kill all the Jewish people. It wouldn’t be allowed.

Friday, 25 August 1944

My diary is up to date. I am in the hut, exhausted, but eager to hear Irini’s voice. I long for her embrace. On the last stretch of my journey up Mount Filerimos, with the wind in my hair and the sun warming my shoulders, I realise I want to spend the rest of my life with Irini at my side, and I was going to tell her the moment I saw her. Just because I loved Giovanni, didn’t mean I loved Irini any the less. She would understand that.

But Irini wasn’t at the hut. Xanthi told me she had gone out shortly after I left for Kamiros Scala and hadn’t returned.

Evangelisa rushed up and hugged me. ‘Will you tell us everything that happened, Dora?’ she said, her eyes sparkling. ‘Did you have a real adventure? Did you shoot anybody?’

She wore her best dress and red ribbons in her hair. I understood this was in my honour and I was touched.

‘You look beautiful, Evangelisa.’ I kissed her cheeks and hugged her. She held her skirt out and twirled.

‘Dora, you can borrow any of my dresses or ribbons whenever you want. I wouldn’t lend them to anyone else, but you are so special, and I’m sorry to say so but you’ve been looking a bit dishevelled lately.’

This was an honour indeed. ‘That’s so generous! Wait until I tell Mama what a fine young woman you’re turning into with your cooking and housekeeping. She’ll be so proud. You’ll make some handsome boy a very lovely wife one day.’

Her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkled, and I loved her so very much.

‘Come on, Dora, I’ll find a really nice frock for you.’

‘Evangelisa, will you forgive me if I go for a sleep first? I’m so exhausted.’

She took my hand and led me into the hut. ‘You get some sleep, Dora, and don’t worry about a thing,’ she said. ‘I’ll sort you out with some fresh clothes when you wake, later.’

When I woke, I refused one of her flamboyant party dresses and I settled for a simple blue gingham frock with little puff sleeves and white buttons down the front. Evangelisa also insisted I took a pair of her pristine ankle socks.

Giovanni turned up, took in my appearance and smiled. I longed to fall into his arms, but he told me I had to report to Nathanial immediately.

*

I left my sister with Xanthi. Giovanni led me to the villa, once again by a different route. And once again, I sensed we were under observation. The Andartes leader seemed moody. While recounting the events that led me to the little church in Embonas, I became dizzy and my knees buckled.

Next thing, I was carried upstairs by a burly rebel who deposited me on a huge four-poster bed. I opened my eyes and found Giovanni staring into my face, his concern very apparent.

‘You fainted. Here, drink some water.’ He slid his arm under my shoulders and sat me up.

‘I was scared,’ he said.

‘What, in the woods?’