Page 78 of Villa of Secrets

Rebecca shook her head. ‘I am, but all the joy has been replaced by the all-consuming worry that tomorrow I’ll lose it. And I have the appalling decision to make . . . what to do with my baby’s siblings: kill them, give them away, let them be experimented on, or pay each year to keep them alive.’

Bubba and Naomi stared at her. ‘What do you mean?’ Naomi uttered.

‘There were ten eggs. Four were successfully fertilised to become embryos, and of these four, two were transferred to my womb in the hope that one will continue to develop normally and go full term. What shall I do with the other fertilised pair? They are potentially my children. What if I miscarry but I’ve had the other embryos destroyed?’

‘If you miscarry, you’ll get over it, child. Life will go on. Painful as it is . . .’ Bubba stared at nothing. ‘You’re young.’ She lifted her lame hand and placed it on the kitchen roll, and then ripped a sheet off with the other.

Rebecca dropped her head into her hands. ‘How can you say such a thing? You’ve no idea!’

‘You think not? Here.’ She held out the paper towel. ‘Let me tell you, I’ve experienced more loss than you’ll ever know, young lady.’ She glanced from Rebecca to Naomi and back again. ‘Even after the Nazis had taken my darling family away, I went on to lose so much more. I lost everything. The woman I loved, the man I loved, my only sister, and my child.’

Rebecca and Naomi exchanged a glance of astonishment.

‘You’re reading the diaries, but there are some events I didn’t explain fully because they were taboo in those days. I loved Irini,’ she said quietly. ‘With all my heart and soul. Such things were not talked about back then so I kept it inside me. I never revealed the true depth of my feelings. Irini did the same. What started as childish curiosity and friendship developed into the sincerest love.’ Bubba smiled softly. ‘Let me tell you what happened. . .

‘We were living in the hut: my beautiful sister, Evangelisa; my best friend, Irini; a member of the Andartes, Xanthi; and me. It was very sparse. I was helping the partisans to end the war so Papa and my family could come home, but you already know that from the diary.’

Bubba’s eyes widened, then glazed over. ‘I was sent to the bamboo swamps to learn to shoot. Kapitanos Nikos, my teacher, was a charismatic Cretan who, for some reason, could not go back to his island. He played the bouzouki, sang rebel songs, and swore like nothing I’d ever heard.’

Bubba shook her head and produced half a crooked smile. ‘He was unique. We lived on fish, sparrows, and bamboo shoots.

‘He taught me to use the gun you both held. A weapon that killed eight people by my hand.’ Frowning, she stopped to think. ‘And one of those was my . . .’ Her chest jerked with a sob, and she was silent for a moment. ‘But we’ll get to that.’

Rebecca realised she and her sister were holding hands, transfixed with a mixture of horror and fascination.

Bubba’s gaze rested on Rebecca who had pulled herself together.

With an unexpected glint in her eye, the old woman continued. ‘I became a . . . what do they call it these days? A crack pot.’

‘A crack shot, Bubba,’ Naomi said before biting her lip and squeezing Rebecca’s hand.

Bubba nodded and raised an eyebrow. Naomi gave her a ‘behave yourself’ look.

Before she spoke again, and with a thin smile resting on her lips, Bubba closed her eyes.

Both Rebecca and Naomi guessed she was invoking the past. As the minutes ticked by, they realised their grandmother had fallen asleep.

‘Oh, bless her. She’s such a darling, isn’t she,’ Rebecca said. ‘I know this seems childish, but I keep wanting to do something monumental for her. I can’t explain exactly, but something that shows her worth, her true value. Stupid, really. It sounds so shallow, but . . . do you understand me?’

‘That you came back is enough. It’s everything she wanted. Come on, help me get her to bed. I suspect we could all do with an early night.’

‘She’s a cunning old girl. I love her to bits. I mean: “crack pot”?! I ask you!’ They both laughed quietly. ‘It’s all quite deliberate, isn’t it? She isn’t going gaga at all.’

Naomi nodded. ‘She knows exactly where she’s at, believe me.’

Once Rebecca had gone up to her room, Naomi glanced around the kitchen. She should wipe the tops, wash the cups, and plan tomorrow’s food. Instead, she opened the cupboard, kissed her fingertip and dabbed Costa’s photo.

‘Good night, my love,’ she whispered before picking up the diary and mounting the stairs.

Chapter 34

After some minutes in a huddle on the edge of the lake, Irini, Giovanni and I calmed down. Without looking at the soldiers’ bodies we staggered into the water, sat in the shallows, and washed the blood, sweat, and tears away. Giovanni had a gaping wound across his eyebrow. He cupped my chin and peered into my eyes.

‘You saved my life,’ he said.

I shook my head and answered in a voice still trembling with fear. ‘Pure accident. The gun went off of its own accord. Besides, Irini saved my life.’ I turned to my friend. ‘If you hadn’t caused that distraction, I’d be dead.’

She shook her head, mimicking me. ‘Pure accident. The scream went off of its own accord,’ she said.