Tom took both of her hands. ‘Sophia will want what’s best for Eléni. And I know deep down, you do too. It’s your only chance, Cassia.’
She knew he spoke sense. She owed it to the little girl who had survived against the odds. It could work. If the littlegirl was too young to remember her parents and grandparents, would she come to think of Cassia as her mother? A vision of a tiny cherub-like baby lying swaddled in a finely crocheted shawl entered her head. Her baby. The baby who’d arrived sleeping. Angelika would have been the same age as Eléni had she lived.Wouldn’t I have wished for a new start for her if I’d been killed like Eléni’s mother?
Cassia knew what she had to do. She had to try. Not just for Eléni’s mother’s sake. For Angelika too.
Chapter Six
‘No! You can’t take her away! This town is all she knows. What about Arianna? The two are inseparable. I shall miss my little girl. She’ll miss me!’
Telling Sophia of their plans was harder than Cassia had thought. Her elderly friend voiced all the reasons why it was a bad idea, becoming distraught.
‘When things improve in Argostoli, the doctors will help Eléni talk again. I know they will. I could take her back to Athens with me. Thousands of others are leaving the island.’
Cassia looked to Tom for help, glad his Greek had improved in the weeks she’d known him. He took Sophia’s hand. ‘It is hard to say goodbye. We want the best for Eléni, eh? I know you want that too.’
With his gentle persuasion, she reluctantly agreed that it was in the little girl’s best interests to go to Fiscardo and live in a real home. Tears trickled down her cheeks. She brushed them away. ‘On one condition. You leave me your sister’s address.’
Cassia didn’t want to tell her that she and Eléni might not be welcome at Eugenia’s house. She quickly dismissed the unwanted thought.
‘Efcharistó,Sophia. Eléni won’t forget you. Once you get to Athens, please write and we will tell you how Eléni is doing. I will continue to tell her stories like you do and let her do lots of drawing. Last night I heard you singing a lovely lullaby soothing her to sleep. I’m going to rename it “Sophia’s Song”. She won’t forget you. I promise. We’ll talk about you all the time.’
The two women hugged, both with tears in their eyes. Sophia called Eléni to her and they sat down as her surrogate yiayiá explained what was going to happen. At first, Eléni shook her head and squeezed her eyes tightly shut.
Tom intervened and explained they were going to a beautiful place where there were no broken houses, no rubble, no cracks in the ground.
‘You go to the beach and swim in the sea. Who knows? You find another friend like Arianna.’
At the sound of her friend’s name, Eléni burst into tears and rushed to where Arianna was sat drawing. She tugged on her sleeve and mimed she was going away. She pointed to her chest and then kept brushing her hand away. Cassia followed her and explained to Arianna’s mother that they were leaving.
When Arianna heard this, she started to cry too. The two little girls hugged each other tightly and eventually had to be peeled away from one another. Cassia wondered if she was doing the right thing. What if they got all the way to Fiscardo for nothing? Again, she speculated that Eugenia could reject her after the hurt she’d caused their family. But her biggest worry was whether Eléni would shrink back into her shell after all the progress she’d made.
That night, Cassia hardly slept. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Eléni’s distraught face and Sophia’s expression as she tried so hard to be brave. At daybreak, the sun crept up into a sky brushed with bright shades of lemon and pale coral, almost as if it were willing her to have hope.
After gathering the few possessions they had — and eating a meagre breakfast prepared by Sophia — Tom, Cassia and Eléni left the park and walked to the harbour, where they found Stavros, the driver, waiting for them.
‘We’re off to Fiscardo, then. You will see a different scene, there,’ he said.
Just as he helped Eléni into the horse’s trap, a voice Cassia recognised called out to them. ‘Off anywhere in particular? Did I hear Fiscardo? I haven’t seen any of you for weeks now.’ She turned to face Rhodri Jones.
Oh, no. The last thing she wanted was for a reporter to know where they were going. She began to stumble over her words. ‘Umm . . .’
Not for the first time, Tom saved the day. ‘I hear you’ve been reporting on the good job us British sailors have been doing. Thank you.’
‘A pleasure, old chap. Folks back home should know how much these poor Kefalonians owe to you all.’
While Tom and Rhodri chatted, Cassia joined Eléni in the back of the trap where Stavros had placed cushions and blankets to make their ride more comfortable. Her heart racing, she strained to hear what the two Welshmen were saying, hoping Tom had continued to avoid divulging the exact details of their journey.
Stavros gave a loud whistle. ‘Time to go,’ he shouted.
The two men shook hands and Tom raced over to the waiting trap.
‘Efcharistó,Stavros. Let us go.’ Tom stepped up into the trap and sat on the other side of Eléni.The perfect family, thought Cassia.But they weren’t, were they? And Rhodri Jones knew it.
As if reading her thoughts, Tom said, ‘It’s all right. I told him we were taking Eléni to see the donkeys on Stavros’s farm as a treat after she had been so ill. I said it’s on the road to Fiscardo.’
Cassia wondered if Rhodri Jones would have been fobbed off with the story, but there was nothing they could do about it now. The main thing was that they were on their way to the part of the island where no one would know Eléni. Cassia had to hope Eugenia would help her. There was no point in arriving at her family home. Her father had made it clear she was, in his own words, no daughter of his. Although he was now dead, she knew her mother would still agree with him.
As they set off from the harbour, Cassia was shocked to see how far the devastation extended. They were soon leaving thebuilt-up areas and travelling along the open road. The smell of thyme filled the air, so different from the dry dust they’d left behind. The rhythmic clip-clopping of the horse on the rough road was soothing and lifted Cassia’s mood. The weight filling her chest lightened the further they travelled from Argostoli. She admired the colours of the landscape again. The pines, the mountains on one side, the teals and turquoise of the sea below them on the other, stretching out in front of creamy limestone cliffs.
