Charlotte pointed at one of the cafés, up yet another flight of stairs.
‘OK, it’s this one.’
‘Right. It bloody well would be, wouldn’t it?’
Charlotte ignored her and marched off, closely followed by Sofia.
The best café in town couldn’t possibly be at street level, thought Maddie, oh no, it had to be on top of a shop. Dragging herself up the last few steps, Maddie joined her friends at a table at the open window overlooking the town beach. The checked floor blurred before her eyes as she grabbed a glass of water from the carafe on the table. They hadn’t come to Grandma’s Café for the décor, but for the promise of the best ice cream on the island.
Not everything or everywhere could be the best, but she agreed that claims about ice cream needed thorough investigation. Charlotte pointed up at the picture of a goat on the brightly painted board and the list of ice cream flavours underneath.
Sofia spoke for both of them once the penny dropped.
‘Are you telling me it’s goat’s milk ice cream we’ve come here to try?’
‘Yep.’
‘Won’t that taste all… goaty?’
Sofia’s voice held more than a trace of disgust.
Charlotte studied the menu on the table closely.
‘I don’t know. Like you, I’ve never tried it before. But let’s give it a go.’
‘Or a go-oat.’
The other two groaned at Maddie’s attempt at humour.
‘Feeble.’ Charlotte hovered the translation app over the menu.
‘OK,pagotóis Greek for ice cream, and some of the flavours are…fráoula, strawberry,kerási, cherry,achládi, pear, andfistíki,pistachio…
Maddie giggled at the same time as Sofia.
‘What is wrong with you two today?Fistíkiis a perfectly normal word in Greek, I’m sure.’
Maddie coughed to cover another giggle and couldn’t meet Sofia’s eye.
‘Yesterday you were at each other’s throats, and now we’re back in primary school.’
Sofia’s attempt at a straight face set Maddie off again.
‘I’ll have a largefistíkiplease.’
‘Me too. A very largefistíki.’
The waiter’s arrival at the table quietened things down for a moment. But as soon as Charlotte uttered the words, ‘Three cappuccinos, onepagotó fráoulaand two largefistíkisplease’, Maddie caught Sofia’s eye and they both collapsed onto the bistro style table, unable to breathe for laughing.
‘I wish I found everything quite so hilarious.’ Charlotte’s plaintive voice brought Maddie up short.
‘It’s not that usual for me, honestly, Char, I can assure you. It’s all her fault.’
Maddie pointed at Sofia, who put up her middle finger.
‘Children, please.’
While Charlotte poured herself a glass of water, Maddie gave Sofia the signal they’d agreed on earlier to kickstart the conversation they all needed to have.
