Page 81 of Villa of Secrets

I told him about my harrowing afternoon and the mystery shooter. ‘That would be Tassos with his rifle.’ He lifted his chin towards the cooking area. ‘Help me hide this away, then you can get some sleep. We start work early.’

*

It has taken ages to record the events of this exhausting day, and it’s almost dark now. Kapitanos Nikos and Tassos are sleeping in their hammocks. I am surprised how noisy the bamboo grove is, the water lapping and rippling, and the bamboo stems popping and swooshing against each other. These sounds mingle with odd noises that I don’t recognize. I feel quite safe with my hammock slung between the two men, and I’m looking forward to starting work tomorrow.

I hope Irini and Giovanni are okay. I have a bizarre urge to bury my head in the lumpy hammock pillow and cry myself to sleep, and I suspect my Irini feels the same. I wonder where Mama and Papa are at this moment. I wish I could see them.

Sunday, 13 August 1944

Dear Diary, sorry it’s been over a week, but I have been so busy with Kapitanos Nikos that I have not had a chance to update my account of life in the bamboo grove. I moved my things to a small cave because I am afraid of my books getting wet, and that is where I am now. The Kapitanos has gone to get fresh supplies and so, for the first time since coming here, I have a few hours off.

Under Kapitanos Nikos’s supervision, I practised cleaning and firing the gun. In a narrow mud gorge that was once a river, I spent hours and days at target practice.

Nikos always speaks quietly but forcefully, repeating the same orders: ‘Arms straight, Dora.’ ‘Bend your knees or you’ll fall on your behind again.’ ‘Concentrate on the sights, not the target! The target will go out of focus, but you can still aim for it, or follow it if it moves.’ ‘Squeeze . . .’ ‘Breathe, Dora!’

Yesterday, when we took a break, Nikos taught me about the local wildlife, which somehow made me feel closer to Irini. I long to impress her with this newfound knowledge on my return. There are terrapins and fish in the water, and snakes and scorpions in cracks and crevices, dozens of birdsongs to memorise, and insects so bizarre they seemed pure science fiction.

At first, I was afraid and repulsed by many of these creatures, but Nikos’s enthusiasm is contagious. ‘Each has its place in nature’s scheme, and none will hurt you unless they feel threatened. Follow me and I’ll show you something special,’ he said.

We climbed up, above the ‘shooting gallery’, which was what we called the deep gorge where I practised. Loosely coiled on a wide flat rock was the biggest snake I’d ever seen.

‘She’s sunbathing. I call her Jezebel. She’s a large whip snake, two metres long,’ Nikos whispered. ‘Lives on mice, lizards, and small birds. Isn’t she magnificent?’

I gulped, both thrilled and horrified at the same time. The snake lifted its slender head and seemed to sniff the air. Aware of our presence, she slipped silently into the vegetation.

Early evening, Thursday, 17 August 1944

My heart is still thudding as I write this. If it wasn’t for the quick thinking of the Kapitanos, I’d surely have been captured by enemy soldiers earlier today, and perhaps I would be dead by now.

I want to go home! I mean really home! Our lovely house in Spartili Street in Paradissi Village. I want things to be the way they were before we had to move into Papa’s shop in Rhodes Old Town. I want to play hop-scotch in Spartili Street with Irini until the street lights come on, and then go inside for Mama’s rich and wholesome food. I don’t want to be an adult! I don’t want to have responsibilities, and more than anything, I don’t want to be alone and afraid.

I wish I had not written that. I’ve blown my nose and dried my eyes, and have to say that I’m sorry to sound so weak and pathetic, but the events of the day were exhausting. It all started when Tassos came rushing through the groves. ‘Nazis!’ he said urgently, ‘all around, searching for the two missing soldiers.’

We scarpered, stuffing every trace of our existence into small caves and covering the entrances with piles of vegetation. Nikos led me to a waist-deep lagoon surrounded by thick stems of bamboo.

‘Stay underwater. Hold yourself down against the bamboo.’ He gave me a short, hollow cane. ‘Use this as a snorkel and don’t come up until I tell you,’ he said.

Petrified, I didn’t hesitate and plunged under the surface. I had no idea where Tassos and Nikos were going to hide, but I guessed they’d be doing the same as me. At first, I couldn’t see because we’d stirred up the creamy sediment, but as it settled I became aware of dozens of soldiers’ boots disturbing it again. The Germans marched past only metres from me. Small fish panicked and darted over my face, flashing slivers of silver quickly hiding amongst the bamboo stems.

A terrapin paddled right before my eyes, lifting its snooty nose out of the water to take air before diving to the bottom. When the minnows emerged again, jostling playfully, I knew the danger had passed. Minutes later I recognised the bare feet of Nikos. He hauled me up.

‘Tassos is ahead of the soldiers, but he’s gone into the gorge to remove traces of the target practice. It’s a dead end; he’ll get caught!’ Nikos whispered urgently. ‘I’m going up the hillside to fire a couple of rounds, cause a diversion.’

Tassos, the shooter, had saved my life. I owed him. I ran towards the shooting gallery. When the backs of the soldiers came into view, I slipped into the water and swam around them. I climbed above the mud tunnel, thinking I might start a landslide so that Tassos wouldn’t be trapped by the enemy in the dead end of the shooting gallery. I scrambled up until I was six or seven metres above the troops and the gorge.

The sediment had settled and I could just make out Tassos under the shallow water below my bullet-riddled target. The Germans were about to enter the gorge, heading straight for him. I glanced around for loose rocks but found none. Peering down to the ledge below, I saw Jezebel raise her elegant head. I grabbed a sturdy length of broken bamboo, lowered it, and flicked two meters of heavy snake into the ravine.

Sorry, girl.

There were several screams, a lot of swearing and splashing, then a mass exodus of soldiers from the bamboo groves.

Chapter 35

Naomi made Rebecca’s bed, picked up Rebecca’s laundry and dropped it in the basket, and wiped Rebecca’s toothpaste out of the washbasin. Not in the best of moods, she came downstairs.

‘Bubba didn’t hold back, did she?’ Rebecca said looking up from her grandmother’s armchair, her feet on the stool. ‘She kept no secrets from her diary. But I guess at sixteen, she never dreamed anyone would read it.’ She looked up at Naomi. ‘You look tired. Shall I make you a coffee?’

Naomi nodded. ‘Although, if you remember, at the start she did record the political situation for her grandchildren. With everything that happened after I guess she forgot about that.’