YANNIS (Cretan Saga Book 1) (20 page)

The examinations were easier than Yannis had dared to hope and he asked Mr Angelakis if he would care to join him for a drink at lunchtime. He was relieved when the tutor declined and determined to take the teacher’s advice to take some books home with him to read in the holiday.

Mr Kouvakis accepted his offer and they spent a pleasant couple of hours whilst the curator related to Yannis how he had excavated at Tylissos. He stretched his arms to show the size of the cauldrons that had been carefully preserved until Yannis was convinced the man was exaggerating.

On his way back to the taverna he visited the market, having finally decided that a new belt for his father in tooled leather and with a bronze buckle would make him the envy of the village men, and for his sisters fine silk scarves to wear to church on Sundays and feast days. Annita was still a problem to him and he was torn between buying a pair of very tiny gold stud earrings or a pair that had a minute seed pearl inset for decoration. In the jewellers he lingered, hesitating until the shopkeeper announced he would be closing shortly and began to hang up his shutters.

‘The pearls, please.’

‘Very wise, sir, a very wise choice.’ Rapidly the gift was wrapped and handed to him before he could change his mind.

Flowers for Louisa presented no problem to him. He had spoken to the flower seller earlier and agreed to call back to collect the bouquet. He smiled to himself as he walked along. He must look a comic figure. One hand was clasped against his pocket to ensure that the precious earrings did not fall out; whilst in his other hand he clutched two packages and an enormous bunch of flowers. He pressed the blossoms into her arms and for a moment a spark of warmth showed in her eyes as she thanked him for thinking of her.

‘I’ll put them in my room.’

She disappeared up the stairs, carrying the flowers and a large water jug. Yannis followed and went into his own room where he laid out the presents for his family and checked them carefully to make sure he had forgotten no one. Later he would pack them ready to catch the bus to Aghios Nikolaos the following morning.

‘Yannis,’ he heard Louisa call. ‘Come and see. They’re beautiful.’

Yannis crossed the hall and Louisa closed the door behind him. ‘I have a present for you, Yannis.’ Very deliberately she undid the buckle of Yannis’s belt and slipped her hand inside his trousers.

Yannis needed no further encouragement; he was kissing her hungrily and pulling at her clothes to feel the smooth flesh beneath, striving desperately for a relief to his passion.

‘Did you enjoy your present?’ her voice was mocking.

‘Wonderful. Thank you Louisa.’ He twisted his hand in her hair, holding her head back, kissing her throat, breast and navel until he reached her hips.

‘No, Yannis; there’s no more time,’ she struggled to rise. ‘Let me go or Yiorgo will be back.’

Yannis groaned. ‘What is it you do to me, Louisa?’

‘I make you feel good.’

The taverna door was heard to open and close. Yannis looked at her in horror. In a trice she had replaced her blouse and skirt and was brushing her hair. By the time the footsteps had reached the top of the stairs she was emerging breathless from her room.

‘Louisa, how beautiful you look.’ Yannis heard Yiorgo’s voice and cringed with shame.

‘Come and have some wine with me. It isn’t often we have time to sit together.’

There was a wheedling note in her voice and Yannis realised she was trying to persuade Yiorgo to return to the taverna to enable him to escape to his own room. Yiorgo needed no second invitation and followed her innocently, opening the bottle she indicated and pouring for them both. He took her hand and kissed her fingers.

‘Louisa, I am a man tormented. Please, give me your answer.’

‘I’m not ready to answer you yet, Yiorgo.’ She withdrew her hand. ‘Shall we invite Yannis to have a drink with us as he leaves tomorrow?’

‘Is he in?’

‘He arrived shortly before you. I’ll go and ask him.’ Before Yiorgo could answer she had whisked away up the stairs and was knocking on Yannis’s door. ‘You must come down,’ she insisted in a low voice. ‘Yiorgo will wonder what’s wrong if you refuse to drink with us.’

After they had eaten the taverna seemed to get far busier than usual. Everyone who entered seemed to want to speak to Yiorgo, whilst Pavlos was listening, his eyes aglow with enthusiasm. Yannis made his excuses to slip away and joined Louisa at the counter.

‘What’s happening?’ she asked.

‘I’ve no idea,’ replied Yannis honestly. ‘I’m going to get packed and then have an early night.’

‘Lucky you! I have a feeling I shall be late.’

The bus jolted, shuddered and rattled along the badly made road, the few passengers holding their breath and clutching at the hard, wooden seats as they careered along the narrow road within a hair’s breadth of the cliff edge. Yannis gazed at the countryside in delight. He had walked to the outskirts of Heraklion, but the scenery could not compare with Mirabello, being much more barren. He leaned forward eagerly to catch his first glimpse of Aghios Nikolaos as it nestled in the hollow of the hills. The bus hooted to announce its arrival and people appeared from nowhere. Yannis craned his neck to see if his aunt or uncle was waiting to meet him, but he could see neither of them. He gathered his possessions and slowly dismounted.

‘Yannis! Yannis!’

Delighted he spun round to greet Annita. ‘You were the last person I expected to see here. Why aren’t you at the hospital?’

‘I changed my day off. Your letter came just in time for me to do so.’

‘Let me look at you. You’ve no idea how good it is to see you.’

They walked along the quay until they could see Yiorgo spreading his nets to dry.

‘We’ll tell him you’ve arrived, then go up to Mamma.’

Yiorgo clasped Yannis to him and slapped him on the back. ‘Welcome back. Elena’s waiting for you. Annita can carry your supper.’ Two large lobsters, claws already tied, were thrust into Annita’s hands. ‘Special treat,’ grinned Yiorgo. ‘Come on, no need to hang around.’

Happily Yannis followed Yiorgo to his house where Elena greeted him rapturously. ‘Where’s Andreas?’ he asked, once he could regain his breath.

Yiorgo and Elena exchanged glances. ‘He’ll be in soon, I expect. He knows you’re expected today. Come and sit down. We want to hear all your news.’

Yannis sat by the open fire and described his room in the taverna, his school, his friends and the museum. Elena continually exclaimed “Fancy that!” or “Wait until your mother hears that!” whilst Annita sat silently. Finally Yannis turned to her.

‘Your turn now. I want to hear all about the hospital.’

‘It’s not very exciting. I spend all day rolling bandages or washing people. They say after Christmas I can begin to change dressings myself. That might be a bit more interesting.’

‘Why do you stay if you don’t like it?’

‘I’m not saying I don’t like it,’ Annita groped for her words. ‘It’s just not how I thought it would be. I want to be able to help people get better, like Widow Segouri does.’

‘I’m sure you will, dear. Just give it time.’ Elena had heard the complaint before. ‘Go and find Andreas, Yiorgo. He must have forgotten the time.’

‘How long are you staying, Yannis?’ asked Annita.

‘Until tomorrow morning, if you’ll have me,’ he looked at Elena.

‘Foolish boy! Of course we’ll have you. You can stay as long as you want.’

Andreas followed his father inside. ‘Yannis – I’m sorry I wasn’t here to meet you.’

Yannis looked at his cousin in surprise. ‘You’ve grown so tall. I swear you’re taller than I am.’

Andreas grinned with delight and rubbed his hand across his chin where a dark shadow was beginning to appear. He drew up a chair, trying to fold his long legs underneath. ‘Tell me your news,’ he demanded, and once again Yannis repeated his description of his life in Heraklion.

‘And how’s school this year?’ asked Yannis eventually. ‘What’s the new teacher like?’

Andreas pulled a face. ‘He’s so boring. Not a bit like Mr Pavlakis.’

‘Yiorgo is planning to run for a place on the local government.’

Andreas and Annita laughed. ‘What on earth does he want to do that for?’

‘It started with a chance remark by a friend of mine when we were sick of him talking politics to us. He took him seriously.’

‘Has he married the girl in the taverna?’ asked Annita.

Yannis felt himself redden. ‘No, she says she’s not ready to settle down yet. He’s hoping that if he wins the election she’ll change her mind. Shall we go out for a walk?’ Yannis was suddenly desperate to turn the conversation away from Louisa.

Despite the cold Yannis and Annita spent most of the afternoon wandering around the town, which to Yannis seemed to have diminished considerably. Everywhere they went friends and acquaintances wanted to know about Heraklion as though he had been away years rather than a few weeks. Finally they climbed the hill where they could look down on the natural lake, which lay at the foot. To Yannis’s surprise they found a house under construction on the summit.

‘I’m surprised anyone should want to climb up here each day,’ he remarked, ‘But what a wonderful view of the bay they will have.’

Annita did not seem to be listening. She had sat herself down on the rough grass, her head bowed.

‘What is it?’ asked Yannis. ‘You don’t seem very happy.’ He sat down beside her. ‘Aren’t you pleased to see me?’

‘Of course I am.’ Tears began to course their way down her cheeks.

Yannis pulled her towards him. ‘Tell me, Annita.’

‘You don’t care about me any more. You’ve found new friends and I’m just your country cousin.’

‘Annita!’ Yannis was genuinely shocked.

‘You haven’t kissed me since you arrived. You didn’t even hold my hand until we started climbing the hill. I thought when you suggested going for a walk it was so we could be alone for a while.’

‘It was,’ Yannis assured her. ‘I just wanted to make sure we were well away from any prying eyes.’ He pulled Annita to him and kissed her gently. She responded passionately and Yannis’s head began to spin due to her proximity and encouragement. He pushed his hand up her jumper and caressed her breast. She made no effort to resist him, simply strained her body closer to his. Unbidden a picture of Louisa entered Yannis’s head. He froze. This was Annita he was holding in his arms. He pulled himself away from her.

‘Get up,’ he ordered.

For a moment Annita looked at him in stunned surprise, then took his hand and pulled herself to her feet, brushing down her skirt.

‘I’m sorry,’ he apologised gruffly. ‘We ought to get back.’

Silently Annita walked with him down the hill. Neither could think of anything to break down the barrier that had been created between them. Yannis opened the door and she passed through and up the stairs to her room without a word. Elena looked up in surprise as Yannis joined her in the kitchen.

‘Where’s Annita?’

‘She went upstairs. That smells delicious. How long do I have before supper’s ready?’

‘About an hour.’

‘Good. I’ve an errand to run before then.’

Flower sellers seemed more difficult to find in Aghios Nikolaos and it took Yannis some time before he finally discovered an old lady in a back street. He was able to slip upstairs unnoticed when he returned and quickly found the presents he had bought for the family. He was unsure when he should give them, but as the flowers could not be hidden, he decided to do so immediately.

Elena was delighted with her bouquet, although Yannis wished he had bought her a silk scarf as he had his sisters, somehow flowers seemed an inadequate way of thanking her for looking after him during his time in Aghios Nikolaos. Yiorgo and Andreas were surprised when Yannis produced a sheath knife for each of them. Yiorgo assured him he needed a new one, and showed a blade worn thin by continual sharpening over the years. Andreas seemed more impressed by the tooling on the sheath than the knife, but agreed that it would be very useful to him when he accompanied his father.

Annita sat quietly, wondering what Yannis had chosen for her. When he drew the tiny packet from his pocket she knew it had to be jewellery of some kind. ‘They’re a special present for a special girl,’ Yannis whispered in her ear.

She gasped with pleasure when she gazed upon the earrings, placed them in her ears and kissed him. ‘They’re beautiful, Yannis. Thank you.’

‘You really like them? I spent ages choosing them. The jeweller threatened to close his shop if I didn’t decide.’

Annita laughed. ‘What would you have done if I hadn’t liked them?’

‘Gone back to the shop and asked the man to change them,’ replied Yannis, relieved to see that Annita seemed happy again.

Yiorgo cleared his throat. ‘Is there a meaning behind Annita’s present? You don’t usually give young ladies gifts of jewellery unless you’re betrothed.’

Yannis flushed deeply. ‘It’s a promise for the future, for when I’ve finished University.’

Yiorgo nodded, satisfied, and raised his glass in approval.

The party became gayer as neighbours called to greet Yannis, more wine was poured and finally Yiorgo produced a bottle of brandy.

‘For a toast,’ he announced. ‘Yannis and Annita are betrothed with our blessing.’

Embarrassed they smiled at each other, feeling very self conscious and foolish as glasses were raised to them. Yannis felt a sudden sinking in the pit of his stomach. He was not at all sure that he wanted to marry Annita, but an official declaration of their betrothal had been made before witnesses and he knew that everyone present would remember and hold him to his agreement.

A neighbour began to strum on his bouzouki. Annita clapped her hands. ‘Let’s dance.’

‘You can’t dance in here,’ her mother remonstrated.

‘We could dance outside,’ she suggested. ‘It’s not very cold, anyway, dancing will keep us warm.’

In twos and threes they left the living room, making a line on the cobbled path. Keeping in time with the music they began to dance, slowly at first, then faster and faster as the tempo increased. More neighbours, hearing the revelry, joined them until most of the immediate area was congregated in the street. The word went round that Yannis and Annita were betrothed, coins were thrown to them and one or two of the wealthier pushed a note into Yannis’s pocket.