Page 17 of The Silent Sister

Tom didn’t mention their conversation about his love for her again.

As each day passed, the awkwardness between them lessened, and they fell back into their easy friendship.

Tom would call by each morning and spend time with Eléni.

He would tell her fairy stories or stories about Welsh dragons while she drew them.

When Cassia returned from the market, she would often find them laughing together.

Sometimes she would stand and watch if they were unaware she was there.

One such morning, neither of them heard her enter the kitchen; they were so engrossed in Eléni’s latest drawing.

They could so easily be father and daughter, thought Cassia.

‘M-am-á.’ Tom pointed at a figure Eléni had drawn. He took the little girl’s pencil and wrote the letter m on her paper.

What she heard next made her gulp.

‘Mmm-a,’ said Eléni.

Cassia held her chest, savouring the moment as happiness filled her.

‘Mmm-a,’ said Eléni again. ‘Mmma-mmm-a.’

Tom hugged the little girl.

He looked up and realised Cassia was there to witness it. ‘She is clever, eh, Mamá?’

Cassia nodded through a blur of tears.

The little girl picked up her paper and rushed to Cassia. She pointed at the drawing. ‘Mma-mma.’

‘Is that me? You are so clever . ’

Eléni went back to her drawing and then pointed in the bar area as if to tell them she was going to show it to Michaíl.

Cassia sat by Tom. ‘You really do have a way with her. You’re the one she responds to. How do you do it?’

‘Plenty of practice with Tony and Phil, I suppose. Each time I get home on leave, I can spend all day with them, playing the big uncle.’ He grinned, remembering. ‘Katerina says I have all the best bits and then when they’re getting a bit out of hand, I just sail off into the sunset.’

Cassia laughed as she imagined the chaos he left behind. ‘Eléni went back into her shell when you left in September, you know. She couldn’t tell me, of course, but I knew she thought it was my fault you’d left us behind. You should have seen the scowls she gave me. I’m dreading you going back.’

He was gracious enough not to remind her that if they became lovers, she’d be able to promise Eléni he’d be coming back to them as soon as he could.

She’d be able to tell her it was just his job.

Being a mere friend, however, he might find another woman to love, and his obligation would be to go to her every time he was on leave.

Did she want him to be happy — to find someone else to love and who loved him back?

She felt she was being selfish by wanting him to keep coming back to her and Eléni.

‘If you send me some of her drawings, perhaps it will help her understand I want to stay in touch and be part of her life. I’ll write back to her — I mean it. You too, even though it’s as a friend.’

Cassia hugged him. What could she do to fall in love properly with this beautiful man?

* * *

Cassia opened her eyes. A shaft of light crept into the bedroom through the thin curtains.

25 December. Christoúgenna. Cassia, Eugenia and Michaíl had decided to make it the main day of celebrations for Tom as he would have left by the time they swapped their presents on New Year’s Day, the day of Agios Vasilios .

Everyone was invited to Eugenia’s house later to let Tom sample a little of a Greek Christmas.

Cassia looked out of her bedroom window across the harbour.

It was a crisp, clear day and the shape of Ithaca was visible on the horizon.

She looked at Eléni, who was snug and still asleep under her blankets.

She thought back to the Christmas service they’d all attended the day before, remembering the times her parents had taken her and Eugenia to the same church as children.

It had been the first time she’d been inside any church since she’d lost Nikos, but she knew it meant a lot to Michaíl.

She wanted Eléni and Tom to experience what Christmas was like on the island, too.

They’d met Eugenia and Maia there. Sensing Cassia’s unease, Eugenia had whispered, ‘It’s all right.

Mamá is going to the early-morning service tomorrow. ’

‘Wake up, sleepyhead.’ Cassia gently lifted Eléni out of her bed. ‘We’re going to have a special day showing Tom what a Christmas in Kefalonia would be like. We’ll give him the gifts we’ve made for him, shall we? Come on, let’s get dressed and have breakfast before we collect him.’

Eléni wriggled out of Cassia’s arms and retrieved the gift she’d wrapped for Tom before leaving the room.

Excitement shone from her face. Once they’d had a breakfast of fresh fruit and yoghurt drizzled with honey, and packed Michaíl’s old car with their contributions to the day, Michaíl drove to pick up Tom from Kyria Galanos’s house.

Most of the houses in the street had decorated boats on display in their windows.

He beeped the horn. When a beaming Tom descended the few steps onto the road, Cassia noticed the front-window net curtains twitch.

She turned away, hoping the old woman would not have recognised her.

‘I hope she didn’t see it was me,’ she told Michaíl.

‘She will not approve of poor Tom being in the same car as a communist sympathiser, as she thinks of me.’

‘Nor a communist chauffeur, either.’

The two of them were still laughing when Tom got in the back seat by Eléni.

‘What are those two chuckling about?’ he asked the little girl. She pointed at the house from where he’d just emerged. She formed her hands into circles and brought them up to her eyes. Then pointed at Cassia and Michaíl.

‘She was spying? On these two?’

The little girl dissolved into fits of laughter.

A mere few minutes into the journey, a wave of nausea washed over Cassia.

She wasn’t a good passenger at the best of times, but Michaíl’s driving didn’t help.

He seemed to hit every bump and every pothole in the road’s surface.

The road out of Fiscardo that led to Eugenia’s house snaked along the spectacular white cliffs, and Cassia tried to focus on the vibrant turquoises and teals of the sea below rather than anticipate the bumps in the road — of which there were many.

When she walked there, there was a shortcut through open land and away from the road.

Finally, they arrived. Michaíl parked alongside Eugenia’s truck and Maia was out to greet them in no time, dragging Eléni away by the hand to play with Calix and Callista. They unpacked the car, and when they entered the house, the delicious smell of cooked lamb hit them.

‘ Kalá Christoúgenna, Eugenia,’ said Cassia.

‘We say Happy Christmas, and it’s today!’ Tom placed a box of drinks from Michaíl’s bar on the table. ‘Or in Wales, the Welsh speakers would say Nadolig Llawen .’

‘Just a few bottles of retsina and ouzo for after the meal.’ Michaíl looked over at the roasting pan just out of the oven.

‘Thank you, all of you. It’s small, I’m afraid, but we’ll have to fill ourselves up with vegetables, and I’ve made olive bread.’

‘But we’re a lot better off than those poor people around Argostoli.

No wonder people are leaving in droves.’ Cassia picked up a newspaper from the sideboard.

‘Look at this. People queuing for food and when they get there, it says there’s not enough to go around.

That’ll be us up here in Fiscardo soon.’

Eugenia looked at her and frowned. ‘Don’t say that. It won’t come to that.’

‘Now, now, ladies. No more talk about people leaving Kefalonia. It’s Christmas Day. Who wants a drink?’ said Tom.

It struck Cassia as ironic that Tom was the one to stop the talk about emigrating, yet he was the one who would be leaving them all in two days’ time. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Eugenia brought in her tins of sweet desserts. As well as more melomakarona, she had baked kourabiedes , the traditional sweets for Christmas. The delicious aroma of the almonds filled the air when she lifted the lid of the tin.

‘Let’s sprinkle some of the icing sugar on the top of the table and draw some tiny footmarks.’ Eugenia picked up some of the powdered sugar between her thumb and forefinger, spreading and sprinkling it around. Using the edge of a teaspoon, she drew little lines to represent feet.

Cassia laughed. ‘I remember Mamá telling us it was the goblins playing pranks on us, making a complete mess in the kitchen.’

‘And we believed her!’

Her thoughts were interrupted by a young voice. ‘Who’s made that mess?’ Maia asked.

Eugenia looked at Cassia. ‘It’s the goblins. They play tricks on the adults and make a mess in the kitchen. Look, they’ve left footprints. Can you see, Eléni?’ The little girl nodded.

Michaíl joined them and went along with the legend that had been handed down for generations.

Cassia cleared up the mess while Eugenia went out to Michaíl’s car to bring in the centrepiece of any Greek Christmas Day table, the special Christmas bread.

The smell of cinnamon, oranges and cloves soon hung in the warm air next to the oven where the Christmas dinner was cooking.

* * *

Eugenia’s meal of lamb kleftiko, slow-roasted on a bed of her homegrown root vegetables — stored after the summer and seasoned with oregano that she’d grown herself — was a huge success.

‘It was a beautiful meal. Thank you.’ Tom patted his stomach, and the girls giggled.

‘Now you must taste something else we’ll be having at our Christmas meal in January.

The desserts.’ While Eugenia cleared away the dinner plates, Cassia brought a large platter of baklavá, shredded filo kataífi and honey pastries.

In the centre of the table, she placed the Christopsomo flavoured with cinnamon, oranges and cloves. The top was decorated with a cross.

‘Christmas in Greece would not be Christmas without the Christopsomo . It is “Christ’s bread” or “Christmas bread”. A bit different from your mother’s Christmas cake, I think.’

Tom held up his plate for a piece. ‘You’ve all shown me a real Greek Christmas. I shall always remember this . Efcharistó .’

Michaíl handed round some small glasses of ouzo. ‘Oh, it’s not finished yet, Tom. Knock this back and while the women clear up, we’ll sit outside and have a smoke. It’s warm enough now the sun is out.’

‘No. I’ll help.’ Tom started collecting plates and glasses. ‘They’ve done all the hard work already.’

The look on Michaíl Pavlis’s face told him it wasn’t what usually happened. The two sisters smiled at each other. Once the three of them had finished the cleaning up, they called Michaíl and the girls inside.