‘Sit down. What can I get you to drink?’ Simos opened a door in the wooden cabinet positioned on the opposite wall from thesofa. ‘I have all the usual spirits, ouzo and raki. There’s wine and beer in the fridge, or perhaps you’d like a coffee.’
‘I’ll have a wine, please. This is a very smart place you have here.’ He returned with the wine, a beer for himself and a dish of pistachio nuts and olives. ‘How do you keep it so tidy?’ Eléni thought of her cluttered bedroom back at the lodging house.
‘I can’t cope with things lying around or out of place. Force of habit after being in the orphanage. If we didn’t pick up our things, they were thrown away. We soon learned... not that we had much. Anyway, let’s talk about Kostas Koulouris. What do you think?’
Eléni sipped her wine. She recognised it as the same Robola one she’d enjoyed on their evening to see the sunset. ‘It certainly sounds promising, doesn’t it?’
‘It does. And here’s the best bit. He questioned the reporter for more information about the little girl and found out she was rescued in the street where his parents and sister lived. I think we have to pay Kýrios Koulouris a visit, don’t you?’
Eléni’s hand shook and she placed her wine down on the glass coffee table. She thought about the reporter who’d been the reason her mother had taken her from Porth Gwyn and moved to Cardiff. It was too much of a coincidence, surely. ‘Nai, parakaló. I know I mustn’t get my hopes up. Does this Theo think his father will want to see us?’
‘Nai. He’ll take us there. I hope you don’t mind me arranging it before checking with you first, but I said we could go on Monday. I can always cancel it if it’s not convenient.’ Simos looked so excited on her behalf. If only she could repay him and help to find his family.
‘Of course I don’t.Efcharistó. That’s wonderful. I’d given up hope as it’s been a few weeks since the advert.’
He brought a map of the island over from a drawer in the cabinet. He spread it on the coffee table in front of them.Leaning over to look at the map, Eléni felt the warmth of his thigh against hers. Fizzles of excitement shot through her, but she knew he was unaware of the effect his closeness had on her.
‘He lives here. Just a few kilometres away. The town was badly hit by the earthquake and instead of building over the ruins, they built a new town close by. In Old Farsa, you will see parts of buildings and single walls left standing as they were left after the disaster. The new town is lower down and built to survive any new shocks... they hope. He’ll pick us up by the museum at ten o’clock. Is that all right?’
Chapter Fifty-Two
Theo Koulouris arrived dead on time in his open-top silver BMW. Eléni thought he looked about the same age as her, maybe a few years younger. After morning greetings and introductions, they were soon leaving Argostoli behind, winding along the coast road and avoiding the occasional goat along the way.
Theo looked in the rear mirror. ‘My father is looking forward to meeting you, Eléni. With just the little information we have, he is convinced you are his niece, Iôánna. It makes us cousins if you are! There’s no one else. Mamá died several years ago.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that. I can’t wait to meet your baba either. But we mustn’t build our hopes up. I’d almost resigned myself to never finding my uncle, hadn’t I?’
Simos turned around from the passenger seat and smiled. ‘I have a good feeling about this.’
For the rest of the journey, the two men chatted in the front of the car while Eléni drank in the magnificent views of the sea and the little coves below. It was good to feel the breeze on her face and her long hair blew out behind her.
In what seemed like no time at all, they arrived at their destination.
‘Here we are,’ said Theo. ‘Baba moved to New Farsa after Mamá died. He couldn’t bear to be in the house without her. Here there are no memories.’
Turning off the main road, he drew up into a street leading down a hill and parked halfway down. The sleek BMW seemed out of place. The one other vehicle parked nearby was an old Datsun Cherry, covered in thick dust and sporting several dents. Theo led them to his father’s house and entered through a wooden beaded curtain.
‘Baba, we’ve arrived.’ He turned to Eléni and Simos. ‘Come on through.’
Eléni clasped her hands together to stop them shaking. She found it difficult to breathe. The room at the back of the house was dark and cool. Kostas Koulouris got up from his chair in the corner and embraced his son.
‘Baba, this is Eléni, the young woman I told you about, and her friend, Simos Georgatos.’
The man immediately broke down in tears. Theo wrapped his arms around his father to comfort him. ‘Whatever’s wrong?’ he said. ‘I haven’t seen you like this since Mamá passed.’
His father moved towards Eléni and took her hands. ‘This is my niece. There is not a shadow of doubt. It is like looking at my sister, your dear mamá, at the same age.’ Tears still streaming down his cheeks, he pulled Eléni into his arms. ‘Efcharistó, efcharistó. I never thought I would see this day.’
Her uncle’s body convulsed into sobs against her. She’d dreamed about this moment ever since she’d found her aunt’s letter. She wept in silence with her arms around her uncle. Theo and Simos allowed the two of them time to savour their moment.
‘Come with me, Simos. We’ll take some drinks into the garden and let Baba and Eléni get to know each other.’
Kostas took Eléni to sit on the small sofa. He held her hand. ‘You have to know,agápi mou. I tried so hard to find you. Once I heard you may be alive, I wanted to bring you up as my daughter, a sister for Theo. My wife, Philia, agreed. We were blessed with one son and you would have made our family complete. I was working away in Australia when the disaster happened. I couldn’t get back here until almost two years after the earthquake and by then you had left Kefalonia.’
Eléni imagined what it would have been like being brought up here on the island. ‘How did you find out I’d survived?’
Her uncle seemed to want to talk about that awful time. It was as if just seeing his niece had opened up all these horrible memories. ‘Philia and Theo were still living in Athens. I’d comeback here to find out who of my family had survived. I’m ashamed to say I was so shocked everyone in my family had died, I started to drink. Every night, too much raki. I got talking to a reporter who’d been here right after the earthquake and his paper had sent him back two years later to find out how the island was doing after so many had emigrated.’
Rhodri Jones!Eléni was convinced of it.
