Chapter 51
51
KASSIOPI HARBOUR
‘Armeena, please. Come out from there!’
This was probably the craziest thing that Molly had ever done. She was trying to bargain with a half-feral, possibly injured cat, who had squeezed itself into a nook in the rocks next to the raging sea. Out in the middle of the rocks at the end of the harbour, next to the small car parking area, exposed to the elements, soaked to the skin, she was trying to encourage the feline to come to her with nothing to tempt it but her fingers. And, if she thought too hard about it, she was cold. Yes, it wasn’t Portsmouth on a winter day, but the harshness of the rain and the power of the wind were driving the temperature down and her wet clothes – no coat – were sticking to her. This was so stupid. But, what was she going to do? Leave an injured animal, some part of which belonged to her?
‘Armeena, please,’ she begged, stooping down to look the unreachable cat in the eye. ‘If you come out now I promise I will look after you and I will give you food and I will do my very best not to let that big cat bully you again.’
Armeena made a noise, a chirrup of sorts. Was that good or bad? She had no idea.
‘Molly!’
She swayed on the wet rock she had her left foot on. Was that someone calling her name? Literally no one was around right now – sensibly – it was like the bustling village had turned ghost town. Maybe she was imagining things. She refocused on keeping her limbs balanced and her eyes on the cat.
‘Molly!’
No, there it was again and it definitely wasn’t the wind. It was a low voice. A man’s, perhaps? Distant, like it was coming from above her. She turned to look up the hill, rain driving into her face. There was someone up there but she was blinded by all the forces of nature as to who. It was time to get serious with this cat before either one of them, or both, slipped into the wild, white fizzing waves.
‘Armeena, please! Come on out, kitty. I’ll carry you home, I promise.’ She stretched further, fingers inching towards the dark crack the cat was half hidden in. And then her foot slipped…
‘What the hell is wrong with you! Are you fucking crazy?!’
One hand was gripping onto a rock, the other was palm down and hurting, one leg was twisted and tucked and the other was way too stretched out for someone who was not a contortionist. And someone was shouting at her while the wind whipped her hair and spattered her with more salt water that was mixing with… was that blood? And where had Armeena gone? It was all so over-stimulating and her fingers were starting to go numb but she couldn’t let go because, even without looking, she knew she was a lot closer to the sea than she had been before.
‘Come on, Molly, you have to get up.’
Christos . It was Christos and he was on the rocks with her now, picking up her hands, moving her legs and then, lifting her up into his arms.
‘Why are you always balancing on something when we’re together?’ he yelled. ‘It is like you have a death wish!’
‘Put me down!’ she roared. ‘You cannot balance on here holding me! That’s insane!’
‘No, what is insane is you being out here in this storm when the government sent everyone a warning not to go out unless it was absolutely necessary!’
He stepped onto the next rock and they both wobbled.
‘We thought the alarms and the warning signs were just… you know… over the top, that it wouldn’t be this bad.’
‘And you know nothing about Greek weather, clearly.’
‘Christos, put me down! You’re going to fall and then we’re both going to fall and?—’
‘I’ve been climbing these rocks since I was a kid!’
‘But not in this weather! Because you would have been too smart for that!’
‘Stop shouting! I need to concentrate!’
‘If I stop shouting you won’t hear me above the wind!’
‘ Telia ! Perfect!’
He stepped onto the next rock and centred them.
‘Are you going to go back for Armeena?’ Molly asked.
‘What?’
‘Well, I wasn’t out there for fun! Armeena’s inside the rock over there. I was trying to get her out but she wouldn’t listen because she was scared and?—’
‘That cat could survive anything. She will stay there until the storm has passed and then she will come out and see what food she can fight other cats for.’
‘Put me down,’ Molly ordered, starting to wriggle.
‘Molly, stop, you’ll make me lose my balance.’
‘I don’t care. Put me down,’ she ordered. ‘Armeena isn’t a bully to the other cats. They bully her which is why she’s scared of us. Now I’m going back to get her and I don’t care how much she scratches me, I’m going to pull her out of that hole and get her on safe ground.’
Her passion and conviction was flowing through her now as he held her in his arms and she swallowed at the end of her speech wondering what he was going to do next. Look at her, apparently, with those gorgeous eyes, making her heart rate exceed any kind of recommended level.
‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘I will get Armeena. When you are safe. And before you tell me I am making this about you being a woman and me being a man it is just because I have been on these rocks before and?—’
She didn’t wait for him to say anything else. With one brave leap, knee still bleeding, she was out of his arms and on the stones again, clambering closer to Armeena’s spot as the rain continued to pummel her. Bending down, she eyed up the cat.
‘One chance, Armeena. You either come to me now or I am going to drag you out of that hole.’
She offered her hand, more firmly than before and the cat replied with a meow and enough of a forward motion for Molly to get purchase on her and tug her out into the elements. Shielding the cat from the weather, holding her tight to her chest, she headed back to Christos.
‘You are?—’
‘Pretty and incredible?’ she asked him.
A very soggy Armeena miaowed.
Christos shook his head. ‘Come on, let’s get off these rocks and get to the boat.’