Page 42 of The Silent Sister

ELéNI

The time had come for Eléni to share her plans with her parents and sister.

She’d booked and paid for her plane ticket to Athens and from there to Kefalonia.

She’d made another visit to Get Away Travel in Credenford.

The assistant had found the best route for her journey and appeared to be as excited as Eléni herself.

In one of the brochures she’d been given, Eléni found a small family-run hotel situated in the main square of Argostoli.

It looked quite basic, but reports were it was clean and the family who ran it were friendly and welcoming.

The main attraction for her was the price.

It was a lot cheaper than the larger hotels with more amenities.

All she wanted was a base and to make her money last as long as it could.

Her stomach churned as she flicked through the books, a map of the island and the travel brochure she was going to show everyone.

Her mother’s worried face earlier told Eléni it was she who needed to be persuaded that the trip to Kefalonia was a good idea.

She was prepared for resistance from her.

She was sure her baba and Bronwen would wish her well.

She left everything on the chest of drawers and went downstairs after hearing her mother call everyone for their evening meal.

Once they were seated, her mother dished out the steaming lamb cawl into large bowls.

Her mother had prepared it before going to her typing classes.

She’d never worked while the girls were small but with Bronwen going away next year, she’d talked about getting a job as she’d have more time on her hands.

Eléni didn’t have much of an appetite as she rehearsed what she was going to say later. In the end, her mother’s announcement paved the way for her.

‘Eléni’s got something to tell us after dinner, but I’ve got some news, too. I’ve got a job!’

Everyone looked at Cassia in amazement. She’d always said she wouldn’t work as looking after the house and family was a full-time job. When she’d started her typing classes at the beginning of the term, she’d said she’d get a job at the end of it but Eléni wasn’t sure she’d go through with it.

‘Where?’ the three of them said in unison.

‘This morning, before my typing class, I went for an interview at the clerk’s office in County Hall. I had to show my typing speed and they seemed to like I could do shorthand, too. They don’t need to wait to see if I pass my exams. I can start a week Monday.’

Tom got up from his side of the table and kissed her cheek. ‘Well done, cariad . If that’s what you want.’

‘Yes,’ said Bronwen. ‘It will be good for you.’

Eléni could feel her mother’s eyes on her.

‘Eléni, what do you think?’

‘I’m just surprised. I thought you didn’t agree with working mothers after having to work when I was young. You never said a thing.’ Why did she say that? She wouldn’t be here anyway.

Her mother got up and took a booklet from the magazine rack next to Tom’s wooden armchair in the kitchen.

‘Well, it seems it’s not just me who doesn’t say a thing.’ It was a brochure on Greek holidays that Eléni had taken when she’d visited Get Away Travel for the first time. ‘Planning something?’ Cassia’s face was blotchy. ‘When were you going to tell us?’

Eléni’s face and neck reddened. ‘Where did you get that?’

‘Too much time on my hands. When I stripped your bed, I spotted the corner peeping out from under it.’ She held up the brochure. ‘Oh, look. The page on Kefalonia has been turned down.’

Eléni didn’t like the sarcasm in her mother’s voice. She was desperate not to rise to the bait. She’d planned to tell them in a calm manner, but her mother had just scuppered it. Her father began to clear away the crockery and pile it near the sink.

Eléni went upstairs to fetch the books, brochures and the all-important map.

They all sat around the table. Her mother’s face was like thunder.

Eléni spread the map over the table.

‘When I found out you were not my real parents, I was angry you hadn’t told me and said some awful things.

I’m sorry. I do understand why you took me away from the island.

I’ll always be grateful for that. Since then, I’ve been trying to find out everything about the island and what happened.

The more I read, the more I understood why you did what you did.

’ She reached across and squeezed her mother’s hand.

’You will always be my parents. Always.’

Cassia’s eyes had welled with unshed tears. ‘We couldn’t leave you. You had no one... or so we thought. We really believed that.’

‘I’ve been spending time in the library and reading about the earthquake.

I think I found you in one photo, Mamá. Talking to a reporter.

Remember the article appealing for people who may have seen a child who looks like me?

It means I have an uncle who looked for me, doesn’t it?

So you see, I have to go to Kefalonia and see if I can find my uncle.

He may have children, so I could have cousins too.

It won’t mean I love you both or Bron any less. ’

‘Loads of people go travelling these days. I want to go after uni.’ Thank you, sister dear. ‘I think it’s exciting. Especially if I can join you after A levels.’

Eléni proceeded to tell them about how she was going to get to Kefalonia and the hotel she’d booked into. ‘I think it was Argostoli where Baba brought me out from the house. So I chose a place there.’

Her mother nodded, but didn’t comment.

‘Please say something, Mamá. Just think of me going travelling. I’ll be back, I promise.’

‘I don’t want you to go. Go to another Greek island if you have to travel, but when we left Kefalonia to come here I vowed I’d never return. I didn’t even go back to see my mother when she was dying or go to her funeral.’ Cassia’s voice cracked with emotion.

She stood and dashed from the room.

‘Leave her. She’ll come round. She’ll have to,’ said Tom.

‘I don’t understand why she’s so against me going. I know it was wrong to keep all the planning to myself, but I didn’t want to upset her until I knew I was definitely going. I knew she’d be like this.’

‘Yes, why is Mamá so upset? It’s been almost twenty years since she left. Eléni is a grown woman.’ Bronwen was as puzzled as Eléni.

Their father sighed. ‘She’s afraid. Afraid, if you find your uncle, he will want to make up for all the years he hasn’t had you in his life.

For all we know, you may be the sole blood relative he has left.

He could put pressure on you to stay. When he came looking for you, your mother didn’t even tell me until the day you found the letter and confronted us about not being your birth parents.

In her eyes, we broke the law by taking you.

Her way of dealing with it is to shut out anything to do with her homeland. ’

Cassia entered the kitchen, her eyes red-rimmed.

‘Sorry. I just wish you’d told me what you were planning.

I think it’s a mistake, but, as your baba and sister say, you’re a grown woman.

I don’t want your heart to be broken if you can’t find your uncle or, worse still, he rejects you because of what me and your father did. Now, who wants some jam roly-poly?’

Eyebrows were raised and looks were exchanged by everyone around the table as Cassia poured the custard into a serving jug and spooned out dishes of their favourite pudding. The subject was closed... for now.