‘You do know thathortaare those wild greens they pick themselves up in the hills, boil and then serve cold doused in olive oil?’
‘You’re talking as if they were poisonous.’
Maddie was pleased that Charlotte’s attention to detail was back in force after her wobble on the beach.
‘Not exactly poisonous. Just weird and slimy.’
Thea’s return with the food silenced Charlotte. Maddie attempted to get up out of her chair and reach the little table where the couple obviously ate their meals, but Thea shook her head.
‘No, no, sit. I have brought you everything on a tray.’
‘You shouldn’t have, really.’
The smell coming off the individual pot of Greece’s national dish was enough to send Maddie’s senses into overload. There were glasses of both red wine and water on the tray and even a small vase with a couple of pink flowers.
‘What a feast, thank you.’
As soon as Thea had left the room, Maddie broke the bechamel crust on the top of the dish with her fork to get to the aubergines and rich tomato-based mince beneath, and moaned with delight as the first mouthful hit home.
‘You’re missing out here, girls. You’ll have to wait until breakfast now.’
Sofia sighed.
‘It does smell nice, I’ll admit.’
‘Here, have a taste.’ Maddie offered the next mouthful to her friend, who swallowed it with gusto.
‘That is delicious.’
‘Char?’
Her friend’s horrified glance at the communal fork was answer aplenty. Maddie ate in silence, offering Sofia the odd mouthful and alternating the deep meaty taste of themoussakawith the tang of the iron-richhorta, a winning combination in her eyes, despite Charlotte turning her nose up.
After finishing the wine, Maddie sat back in the chair and closed her eyes for a moment. What a day!
Charlotte nudged Sofia, who was head down in an album of photos, seemingly stuck on a page of what looked like young Greek farmers working bare-chested in the fields. She indicated at Maddie.
‘She’s drifted off…’
‘Not surprised. She deserves to sleep. Although we’d better get that tray off her before everything crashes to the floor.’
Sofia attempted to remove the tray, but Maddie called out and held on to it even tighter.
‘OK, leave her a moment.’
The sight of a sleeping Maddie holding on for dear life to the tray almost moved Sofia to tears. Her voice cracked as she stroked her friend’s hand.
‘She was amazing today, wasn’t she? Absolutely fantastic. The way she just got on with it and told us exactly what to do. So brave.’
Charlotte’s lip wobbled too.
‘I think if it was just us two, we’d probably still be stranded on that beach. And Thanassis would be one hell of a lot worse off.’
‘Yeah, for sure. But we don’t want to give her too big a head, do we?’
Sofia leaned in closer.
‘Just testing to see if she’s really awake,’ she mouthed.
