Andreas looked around. ‘I was told that there were many on the island who are prepared to fight the Italians. And that it was my task to support them.’
‘Good. But you should know that it’s not just the Italians we are facing. There’s a small German contingent in Lefkada. No doubt sent here to keep an eye on the Italians. There’s not much trust amongst fascists, it seems.’
‘Germans? How many?’
‘No more than a handful. Eleni knows more about them than I do.’
Andreas turned to her. ‘You’d better tell me.’
She was wearing a dark dress over the baggy trousers that the other
andartes
favoured and knelt on the padded jumpsuit. ‘Not much to say. There’s no more than ten of them. They’ve taken over the top floor of the prefecture. Four officers, one of whom is in the SS, two women, secretaries I think, and the rest are civilians, but there’s a rumour they belong to the Gestapo. They don’t mix with us, and seem to have as little to do with the Italians as they can.’
‘Then why are they here?’
‘All I could get out of the Italian officer billeted with your father is that they’re here to liaise with their allies. That’s all he could say. As far as I know the Germans have only left Lefkada a few times since they arrived. A shepherd said he had seen them up near Aghios Ilias.’
Andreas remembered the village well enough, it was on the road back from the excavations of Dr Muller.
‘What were they doing up there?’
Eleni shook her head. ‘I couldn’t find out any more. No one seems to know much about them beyond what I’ve told you.’
Michaelis sniffed. ‘If those Germans come anywhere near here, we’ll clean them up nicely. Especially now that we have new weapons.’ He glanced fondly at the guns and ammunition stacked against the side of the cave.
‘I’m sure you would,’ said Andreas. ‘And I’d be proud to report your success back to our friends in Cairo. They like to reward success.’ Beneath his jumpsuit he had been wearing a plain black jacket and trousers and now he slowly reached into his breast pocket and took out a small felt purse. ‘Here. British gold. Think of it as payment on account.’ He tossed the purse to Michaelis who eased it open and glanced inside with an appreciative rise of his eyebrows. Then he folded his hand around it and nodded. There was always a ready market for any man who had gold. Even with the scarcity caused by the war there were those who knew how to obtain food and other items on the black market, for a price. Andreas had given him enough to buy provisions from the local people for some months.
‘I accept this to buy supplies for my men, you understand.’
‘Yes. Of course. And there’ll be more when Cairo hears from me about your exploits against the enemy.’
‘Then they shall hear of something very soon.’ Michaelis grinned. ‘I have a job in mind.’
‘Oh?’
‘I shall say nothing now. First you rest, then I’ll show you in the morning.’
‘As you wish.’
Michaelis was about to turn away when he paused. ‘You’ll need a code name. You can’t be known as Andreas Katarides, in case the enemy come to hear of it.’
‘I know.’
‘Then what shall we call you?’
‘Mahos.’
‘Mahos.’ The
kapetan
nodded. ‘Mahos it is.’ He turned to Eleni. ‘It’ll be dawn soon. You’d better go.’
‘Go?’ Andreas tried to hide his disappointment. ‘Why?’
‘Eleni has to return to Nidhri before dawn. She’s posing as the guest of a friend’s family, come down from Lefkada to stay with them a few days to help with the friend’s wedding. She has to leave now if she’s going to get down to Nidhri in time. Off you go, my girl.’
Eleni nodded reluctantly and rose to her feet.
‘I’d have a few words with you before you go,’ said Andreas.
‘All right, then,’ Michaelis agreed on her behalf. ‘But make it quick. There may be patrols sent up to the hills, now they’ve been alerted to the presence of a bomber flying low over the mountains. Go carefully, my girl.’
Andreas fell into step beside her as she made her way along the low, narrow passage giving out to the steep hillside outside. Michaelis watched them leave with a curious stare, and then eased himself to his feet to cross over to the weapons that had been dropped and lifted up a Sten sub-machine gun to admire.
At the cave mouth Eleni stopped. The darkness was beginning to fade. Already there was just enough light to make out the valley stretching down between the hills in the direction of Nidhri. The moon had faded slightly but still added its weak lustre to the scene, and to her face as she turned towards Andreas.
‘I feared I would never see you again.’
‘I know the feeling.’ He smiled faintly. ‘There is so much I want to tell you. So much I want to hear.’
‘It’ll have to wait.’ She glanced back down the slope. ‘I have to be back in Nidhri before anyone stirs.’
‘When will I see you again?’
‘Soon.’
‘I would like to see my father too,’ Andreas continued, aware that he was being selfish in delaying her. ‘But I don’t want to put him in any danger.’
Eleni looked at him sadly. ‘Your father is not well.’
‘What’s the matter?’
‘It began soon after the Italians arrived. It seemed to break his spirit. He no longer cares for himself. He eats too little, and spends most of the day sitting on his terrace looking out to sea. It’s as if he has aged ten years.’ She took his hand in hers and squeezed gently. ‘I’m sorry, Andreas.’
‘Perhaps I should never have left the island.’
She laughed softly. ‘We cannot change the past. Only the future.’
There was a moment’s stillness and silence as they stared at each other. Then Eleni spontaneously rose on her toes and kissed him lightly on the lips and instantly turned to go. Too late he reached out for her but she nimbly hurried away down the slope and was soon lost from sight amongst the trees covering the sides of the valley.
Chapter Twenty-Two
F
or the next week Andreas remained in the cave while he waited for word from the other resistance bands on the island. It was his intention to gather them together so that they might plan how best to organise their efforts against the enemy. Michaelis had assured him that they had been sent messages by his runners but that it was dangerous work and some might not get through or be able to return with the reply. The time given for the appointed meeting at an abandoned shepherd’s shelter high up on the hills in the centre of the island was ten days from when Andreas had landed. It was frustrating that the responses were so slow to come. But it would be a start, he told himself. A first step on the road to unifying the
andartes
towards the common goal of contributing to the defeat of the enemies of Greece. At the same time he gently tried to persuade Michaelis to share his weapons with the other bands.
Even though Greece was at war and the island was under occupation, the old ways persisted and Michaelis jealously guarded the equipment that had fallen to him, even though he had far more weapons and ammunition than he needed. He would only give the others weapons if they acknowledged him as the first amongst the
kapetans
and swear loyalty and obedience to him. Andreas pointed out that his possession of the weapons was only by virtue of the fact that it had been his men the British agents had encountered first and elected to set their radio up on his territory. Michaelis shrugged and said it was fate. The same fate that had determined that he would lead the resistance on Lefkas.
Michaelis and his band were busy making preparations for an attack on the Italian anti-aircraft battery on a hill outside Nidhri. The post had been under observation for some weeks pending the arrival of the weapons needed to mount the assault. Two men at a time watched the guns and their crews from the concealment of some trees on the slope overlooking the position. At the same time Michaelis insisted that Eleni remain in Nidhri to glean what information she could about the Italian garrison and its preparedness for any attack, a task that would provide information of limited use, Andreas realised. But it would keep Eleni away from the cave and from him. Michaelis’s affection for her was clear and perhaps explained his cold manner and his desire to keep Eleni and her childhood friend apart.
Lookouts watched the approaches to the cave. Only once in that first week was the alarm raised. The
andartes
slipped into the cave and pulled a screen covered with loose sacking laced with fresh-cut pine branches across the entrance. They waited in silence, clutching their weapons, listening to the voices of the Italians passing no more thirty or forty paces away. They sounded cheerful and oblivious of danger, Andreas thought, but if one of them happened to glance towards the mouth of the cave and became suspicious, the peace of the valley would be shattered. But their good fortune held and the Italians’ chatter faded into the distance. They remained in the cave for another hour before Michaelis ordered a man to go out and check that the enemy had indeed gone. Another half hour passed before he returned to give the all-clear and the men inside could finally set aside their weapons and return to their normal routine.
Apart from the times when Michaelis allowed the men to go outside, they spent their time drinking raki and talking, sometimes singing. Often the discussions became heated as they touched on politics, or on ancient grievences between families or villages and Michaelis would step in and shout at them to stop. At night the men would lie on their makeshift beds, all the time scratching at the lice that infested their clothes and bedding. At first Andreas tried to keep his mattress of pine branches stuffed into his jumpsuit apart from the others but the lice soon discovered him and settled on his body and by the end of the week he was scratching away at them in the same resigned manner as his comrades.
They could only light fires during the hours of darkness in case any smoke escaped from the cave and gave away their position. Then the cave would steadily fill with smoke that caught in the lungs and irritated the eyes as they cooked stews of beans or roasted meat from freshly slaughtered sheep taken from the closest flocks or villages in the tradition of
klepsi-klepsi
, the petty theft that had endured in Greece since antiquity. At other times they ate rock bread and
mizithra
, a soft, dripping cheese, washing the meals down with yet more raki, or curdled milk from jars that were never cleaned out in order to let the culture inside thrive.
Of all the privations, it was the lice that bothered Andreas the most, the constant itch and sensation of small shimmering movements across the skin beneath his clothes. Like the other men, he sometimes stripped and tried to clear them from his body and brush them out of his garments but it only provided a brief respite before they resumed their torment in earnest. Some relief came when Andreas joined a few others permitted to leave the cave and they made their way down the slope to a small gorge where the water lay in shaded pools throughout the summer before being replenished by the winter rains when water gushed through the gorge and filled the bed of the stream running down the floor of the valley towards the coast. They stripped off, immersing themselves in the cold water where they scrubbed at their skin and dipped their hair under the surface to remove the lice before turning their attention to their clothes. A hard rub and scrub on the rocks before wringing them out and pounding the garments on the rocks was enough to remove the scourge and then the men sat and chatted quietly as they waited for the sun to dry their clothes.
The
andartes
, mostly men from the hill villages, were keen to hear Andreas’s account of his time in the navy and more especially Egypt and Palestine, countries that they had heard of only in the sermons at church. They asked hosts of questions and listened in respectful silence, especially as he told them of the scale of the war being fought out across the globe. Of the millions of men and thousands of tanks, planes and warships that were engaged in the titanic struggle between the dark forces of the enemy and the desperate allies of Greece. He reminded them that though the part they played might seem small, it was still an important front on which to engage the Italians and Germans and show them that they were not invincible as they often claimed in their propaganda.
Eleni returned at the end of the week to make her report. During her absence she had returned to Lefkada for two days and as far as she could tell the enemy were not expecting any activity by the resistance on any significant scale. In Nidhri itself, the Italians were continuing to mount the same patrols and post the same sentries that they had done for the previous months. The island’s inhabitants, natives and occupiers, had settled into an uneasy daily routine, she concluded.
‘That routine is about to be broken.’ Michaelis grinned, as they sat outside the cave in the twilight. ‘Soon, everyone will learn that the war has finally come to Lefkas. We will show those fascist dogs that we Greeks still have plenty of fight in us.’
The men of his band, some twenty in all now that he had called them in to prepare for the attack, raised their fists and cheered their
kapetan
. He had already issued their new weapons, a mixture of Marlin sub-machine guns and Stens, with a handful of Enfield rifles to supplement the more dated weapons of the
andartes
. His men brandished them with pride and defiance. Andreas looked on, but was not caught up in the mood. The war had already come to the island, as far as he was concerned. He recalled all too vividly the loss of his shipmates who had died as they bought time for the
Papanikolis
to make ready to leave Sivota. It would be an easy thing to ask his host where he had been on that day. Easy, but foolish.
‘After we have struck and destroyed their anti-aircraft cannon then no Italian on the island will feel safe any longer. They will jump at every shadow, every sound, while we take our time and surprise them again and again. We will destroy them a man at a time until we have driven them from our shores, however long that may take. May Holy God and the Virgin Mary be with us!’
He crossed himself and the others followed suit. Then Michaelis ordered one of his men to fetch some raki from the cave and pass it around the band. As they sat drinking, Andreas approached Michaelis and addressed him in a low voice.
‘So when are you intending to attack the Italians?’
‘Tomorrow. At dawn. I will take all the men, including you. Eleni will stay here.’
‘Tomorrow?’ Andreas could not conceal his surprise. ‘So soon?’
‘We have the guns we need now. You can handle the explosives. There’s no need to delay any longer.’
‘But I know nothing of your plan.’
Michaelis tapped his head and smiled. ‘It’s all up there. I know how many men we’ll be going up against, how they’re armed, where they sleep. It’s all taken care of. As you’ll see for yourself. So drink!’ Michaelis thrust a bottle at him and Andreas took a swig.
‘Why not wait until after the meeting with the other
kapetans
? If you strike now you will have the Italians swarming all over the island looking for the perpetrators.’
Michaelis waved a hand dismissively. ‘They’re cowards. If they dare poke their noses up into the hills we’ll fire a few shots and send them running.’
‘They seemed bold enough the other day.’
‘I let them go by. If I’d been at full strength I’d have laid an ambush and cut them to pieces,’ Michaelis boasted. ‘They don’t scare me. Nor any of my men. Nor any Greek who has the balls to stand and fight for his homeland. Do you have the balls, Mahos?’
Andreas drew a calming breath. ‘Yes.’
‘Good! Then you will play your part and this time tomorrow you will be counted as one of the band and can celebrate properly with the rest of us. Eh?’
Andreas nodded and took the bottle of raki with him and went to sit with Eleni. She noticed his serious expression at once.
‘What’s the matter? Don’t you approve of his plan?’
‘What plan? I fear that he just intends to charge in without any consideration of what might go wrong.’
‘Don’t be too hard on him, Andreas.’ She paused to glance round. ‘Mahos, I mean . . . Michaelis is a brave man. He loves his country and hates the enemy and the men respect him.’
‘I don’t doubt that he is brave. But bravery is not enough. Besides, I don’t think the timing of this attack has much to do with bravery.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Two days before the meeting of the resistance leaders? He knows it will stir up the Italians and make trouble. His will be the name on everyone’s lips and he will reap the reward and use that to justify his claim to be the first amongst the
kapetans
. That’s what he’s really after, if I am any judge of the situation.’
Eleni shook her head. ‘You misunderstand him. Michaelis is no schemer.’
‘You respect him?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘I see. And there’s more than respect for him in your heart, I think.’
Eleni frowned at him. ‘Why do you say that?’
‘I can see it in your face. And why not? You have been working with him since the occupation began. You have come to trust one another. I suppose it’s inevitable that a deeper bond might form between you. It’s clear that he regards you as more than just a member of his band.’
Eleni stared back. ‘He’s been hiding in caves in the mountain all through the winter, and fighting the enemy while you were safely in Egypt.’
‘I am here to fight as well, Eleni,’ Andreas responded quietly.
‘Are you jealous of him?’
‘No! No, of course not.’ Andreas burned with embarrassment. ‘Whatever is between you and him is your own matter. I don’t care about it.’
‘Really?’ she teased, poking him in the chest. ‘Why, I believe you really are jealous.’
He was about to protest again when she put her hand round his neck and drew his head closer to hers and kissed him. He lips lingered a moment and she drew back with a smile as she whispered, ‘Andreas, you fool. Do you really think there is any other man in this world I would love rather than you? I have prayed for you to come back to me since the moment you left . . .’ She kissed him again, longer this time, and Andreas felt a lightness sweep through his body. He made to embrace her and Eleni pulled back.
‘No. Not here. Not in front of the others. Come.’
She took his hand and led him away from the mouth of the cave a short distance along the slope until they were hidden from view by the shrubs and stunted trees. Then they angled down, passing through a clump of pines, their heady scent filling the air. At length Andreas realised where they were heading and smiled as they emerged by the entrance to the gorge where the largest of the pools gleamed dully in the gloom. Around them the cicadas shrilled, their raucous sound rising and falling without any discernible rhythm.
‘We can talk freely here,’ said Eleni, sitting on a flat slab of rock. ‘Come.’
Andreas did as she bid and eased himself down at her side. He hesitated before he asked the only question that was on his mind. ‘Did you mean it?’
‘Mean what?’
‘What you said back at the cave. That you loved me.’
‘Of course.’ She took his hand and eased her fingers through his. ‘Did you not guess? Not in all the years that I have known you? Well?’
‘I–I had hoped.’
‘And I had almost given up hope that you would realise it. Until I saw your expression the other night, and then I knew.’
Andreas put an arm round her to draw her closer and they kissed again. For much longer this time. At length they parted and smiled helplessly at each other. Then her pleasure faded from her face.
‘There’s something I must tell you, Andreas.’
He felt a sudden stab of doubt. ‘What?’
‘It’s your father. I saw him two days ago. When I went to see him, he was in bed. He looked very thin and weak. Dr Meskouris called in before I left. He fears the worst.’