Page 64 of Villa of Secrets

Armed with a skipping rope with two sharp pins sticking through the handles, I am about to travel to the port on the crossbar of Giovanni’s bicycle. If luck is on my side, I will update my journal, with all that has taken place, when I return.

*

Dear Diary, what a day this has been! Once again, I found myself in the clutches of a German soldier. A terrifying moment, but I have come to realise that each time I survive being horribly frightened, the event leaves me a little stronger. I conclude that this is how you become brave. You get to realise that you will survive if you are calm, and strong willed, and determined enough.

I know my family will be very determined to survive. They overcame many problems in the past, like having to move from our lovely village of Paradissi, to the Jewish quarter in Rhodes Old Town. This has made them strong enough to deal with anything the Germans throw at them. But let me tell you how my first day as a member of the Andartes went.

I travelled to the port balanced on the crossbar of Giovanni’s bike. My tension mounted as we neared the town. Giovanni seemed unconcerned.

‘How will you pay for this?’ he said pulling harder on the brakes as we rolled downhill.

‘You’re going to charge me?’ Déjà vu, Giovanni the mercenary, I thought.

‘You owe me for the potatoes too,’ he said. ‘Three kisses wherever I want, and not a cent less.’

This game of his, charging with kisses, had become a joke between us, but in my mood I struggled to respond with a quip that would hide my anxiety.

I’d hardly slept, worried I might fail and let everyone down. Now, my darling Giovanni had sensed my unease and was trying to take my mind away from the assignment. I appreciated the gesture. On the bicycle’s crossbar, between his arms, I turned to look at his face.

His eyes flicked to mine and then returned to the road. He whispered, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.’ Then he carried on with the distraction, ‘What about you kissing me somewhere that is normally covered with clothes?’

‘I’m not even going to answer!’ My tension continued to build until I noticed him grinning like a madman and I laughed too.

‘That’s better,’ he said pulling up near the port. I practised a little skipping on the side of the road, careful not to stab myself with the pins. The ringlets danced and my skirt flounced as I jumped the rope.

‘Definitely ten years old.’ His smile fell as he took my hand and placed it on his heart. ‘Stay safe, Dora Cohen,’ he whispered seriously.

‘Will you wait for me, Giovanni?’

We gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment before he nodded once, and I skipped away.

*

At the port, I spotted the pallet with the pumpernickel packets near the edge of the quay. I hopped along, slowly getting closer to the bread while singing skipping songs. Once behind the pallet, I tapped my rope handle down the rows of aluminium foil, piercing each packet. I skipped about once more, then did the same on the side facing the ferry boat.

The remaining sides were not so easy. Anyone could see me. I looked around and caught sight of Nathanial watching me from a dockside kafenion.

With my arms out, I twirled. Behaving like a child wasn’t difficult. Two German soldiers came and stood next to the pallet. I glanced at Nathanial and saw him make a sideways nod, telling me to leave.

I skipped up to the soldiers, then stood on one leg with my hands behind my back. They smiled at me. I mimicked the irritating adulation thing Evangelisa did, swinging from side to side and gazing at them.

‘I can count to five hundred,’ I said childishly. ‘Can you?’

One of the Germans flicked the backs of his fingers at me and they carried on talking.

I turned to face the pallet. Pointing at them and counting loudly. Then, pretending to have lost my place, I tapped each packet with the handle of my skipping rope and started again. It worked. The soldiers laughed, and I had almost finished when another German joined them. The first two stood to attention and saluted.

I had one row left, so I stuck at it, pricking every packet while calling out the numbers.

‘Oi!’ the officer yelled, grabbing my arm and pulling me away. ‘Weggehen!’ he shouted. ‘Go!’

I appeared upset by the soldier’s rough handling, gathered my skipping rope, and ran off the pier.

‘Well done!’ Nathanial said at the villa. ‘You’ve impressed me, little one.’

Bursting with pride, I nodded respectfully. My first assignment in a plan to end the war. ‘I can do much more if you give me the opportunity, sir.’

Wednesday, 2 August 1944