Chapter 3
Chapter Three
The main town – or chora, as Charlotte informed them all main towns on the islands were referred to as a matter of course – was splayed out below, white houses tumbling down the hillside like building blocks.
They’d come in at the top of the town, after leaving the monastery behind, and it felt to Sofia like the narrow lanes bound on either side by whitewashed stone walls were beckoning them in, inviting them to wander among the shops and cafés.
Charlotte set off determinedly down the nearest one on the right.
‘We can take any one of these. They’ll all lead to the main square eventually.’
Sofia and Maddie followed in her wake, but Maddie halted after only a few steps.
‘Stop! Wait a second. Look at these. Aren’t they pretty?’
She pointed down at the basic flower shapes outlined in white paint every couple of metres on the grey stone pathways.
‘And look, up that way there’s a different shape… Little boats! And the one over there has cats.’
Maddie looked back down at her feet.
‘It seems a shame to walk on them.’
Charlotte whipped out her phone and snapped away.
‘Well spotted. They’re cute, and great for the blog.’
The blog was something she’d devised on the plane over to try to take her mind off Doug and his mistress. Giving herself something to work on would have to take the place of painting or drawing, her usual ways of losing herself and escaping her own thoughts.
It was yet another thing Doug had taken from her, the ability to paint, to do her job, the job she loved with a passion. Since she’d fled from the scene in that office a month ago, and ordered Doug into the spare bedroom, the muse had completely deserted her.
Every time she walked into her studio at home, her pulse raced, and when she sat down at the hand-made easel and looked at the selection of paints in front of her, her mind went blank.
Even squeezing some paint from a couple of tubes and touching it onto the paper with her favourite brushes failed to ignite anything beyond a series of blobs of colour, blurring as the tears fell onto her lap.
Luckily, she’d already finished and delivered everything necessary for a prestigious gallery exhibition in a few months’ time.
But the thought that she might not be able to paint again scared her almost as much as the situation with Doug.
She supposed she should have discussed the idea of the blog with the others beforehand, but she needed it so badly, she couldn’t bear one or both of them kicking up a fuss and making her stop.
Sofia nudging her brought her back to the present.
‘Char? You’ve been on the same shot for ages.’
‘Sorry. I wonder if they mean anything?’
Sofia gave her a sly smile.
‘You mean you don’t know?
Charlotte smiled back.
‘I don’t know everything. But I know how to find out most things. Google is your friend, remember.’
‘Not mine,’ replied Sofia. ‘I’d rather discover things first hand and explore without knowing exactly where I’m going or what I’m going to find.’
‘Me too,’ said Maddie.
They both witnessed Charlotte’s shudder.
The trio wandered further into the maze of streets, in some places almost able to touch the rough painted walls on both sides if they put their arms out.
The shops all had their wares displayed outside, racks of scarves in pretty pastels, arranged on white wooden ladders, and bowls of jewellery, keyrings and purses on tables and windowsills, many of them printed with the bright blue ‘mati’ or evil eye symbol.
Charlotte picked up a keyring with a ceramic eye attached to it and held it tight in her palm.
‘They’re supposed to protect you from evil spirits and negative energy,’ she said in a quiet voice.
Maddie reached for one too.
‘Well, I think we all need one of those. Let’s buy three and hang them from our bags.’
Sofia grabbed the third.
‘I’m in.’ Her attention was caught by a cotton scarf in swirling pinks, which she pulled off the rack.
‘Ooh, that’s gorgeous. You could put it round your neck or use it as a beach towel, couldn’t you?’
Charlotte and Maddie exchanged a look of dread but kept quiet.
‘Let’s go in and have a good look round. I’ll buy us the keyrings as a present.’
The other two followed, dragging their feet.
Sofia’s shopping addiction was well known and something they’d learned how to manage like a military operation if they didn’t want to be stuck in shops for hours.
It was fruitless to try and stop her this early on.
They’d just have to hope that a tiny taste of purchasing power would satisfy her craving.
Through the window, they could see that Sofia had already reached the dresses and was thumbing through the racks with a big smile on her face. Maddie’s stomach rumbled loudly as they crossed the threshold.
‘I’m starving. We’re going to have to be tough with her. She’s going cold turkey after one trip to the changing room.’
‘Agreed.’
A white linen shift dress edged with gold, and two others in navy and sage green decorated with strips of silver and bronze were being whisked away by a delighted store owner. The scarf and the keyrings were already on the counter waiting to be wrapped and paid for.
Sofia handed over her bag to Charlotte. ‘Please look after this for a minute. I’ll come out and show you everything, I promise.’
‘Great.’
Maddie wandered over to the nearest rack and flipped through a few of the price tags before returning to Charlotte’s side.
‘It’s not cheap, is it?’ she said under her breath. ‘Even if we are in the back streets of a tiny island.’
‘No, Sofia did admit that herself. But she loves’—Charlotte put her fingers up to form air quotes and added in the tiniest hint of the Spanish accent that Sofia had inherited from her mother—‘“The soft fabrics and bits of bling that make Greek clothes so special.”’
Maddie laughed. ‘That wasn’t a bad impression. Perhaps you’ve missed your vocation. Stand-up comedy, here we come.’
‘Hardly.’
‘It’s her money. She works hard enough for it. Thank goodness we haven’t had all those urgent work calls interrupting everything like we usually do.’
Charlotte crossed her fingers.
‘No calls yet… But it’s still only the first day, remember.’
‘True.’
Charlotte stroked the fringing on a green crocheted handbag and held it against her side.
‘This is nice.’
‘Put that back. Don’t waste your money. I can make you one for free.’ Maddie’s whisper was loud enough to attract the attention of the store owner who stared with sad eyes as Charlotte put the bag down and flicked through the clothes rack again.
‘I’m probably a bit sour because there’s nothing, absolutely nothing, here that would fit me. It’s all made for Greek women who tend to be on the short side.’
‘Don’t let Sof hear you say that. She’d go bonkers.’ Maddie lowered her voice to a whisper again. ‘Even if anything did fit me, it’s far too rich for my pocket.’
Sofia emerged from the back in the white linen dress.
‘I love it! I’m definitely going to get it.’
Charlotte and Maddie just nodded as she ducked back in.
Sofia’s phone buzzed with a message. Another one five seconds later. And another one five seconds after that.
Maddie eyed the bag slung over Charlotte’s shoulder as the sequence started again.
‘It sounds like some sort of code… Dare we?’
Charlotte’s face gave her the answer.
‘Absolutely not. We are not looking at her messages. I can’t believe you even suggested it.’
‘You want to though, don’t you? There’s something going on with her. It would give us a clue.’
‘Oh yeah, but it’s not happening.’
Sofia emerged in the navy dress, but as she did another twirl, the buzzing phone halted her in her tracks. She ran and grabbed her bag off Charlotte’s shoulder.
The stop start code was Adonis’s way of letting her know he had a few minutes’ break from his busy job as the newly promoted manager and co-owner of the best hotel on his island.
Unfortunately, he had a knack of ringing at exactly the wrong time. He couldn’t be available when she was resting in her room, could he? No, he had to ring when she was in a tiny changing room with her friends standing the other side of the flimsy curtain.
Deep down, she knew it wasn’t his fault. He could hardly whisper sweet nothings in her ear while he was dealing with hotel guests.
‘Hello?’
‘It’s me. Is it a good time to talk?’
‘No, it’s a terrible time. I’m standing here in my underwear.’
‘That sounds interesting… But why are you speaking so quietly?’
‘Because I’m in a shop changing room.’
‘Ah, I see.’
‘It’s impossible to talk now. Can we speak later?’
‘Sadly, I don’t think so. We have a function in the restaurant. But I will try again tomorrow.’
‘OK.’
Sofia put the phone in her bag with a sigh.
Maddie had moved a few steps towards the curtain under the watchful eye of the store owner and pretended to examine the jewellery.
‘Anything?’
‘Not any actual words sadly.’
The ending of the call prompted Maddie to move swiftly back to her previous position, and seconds later Sofia stepped out in the sage green.
‘This one’s perfect, too! Don’t you agree?’
‘Lovely.’ Maddie shot her a stare. ‘But aren’t you going to tell us who the hell that was on the phone?’
Sofia ignored the question and went back to the sanctuary of the dressing room. She wasn’t going to try and explain her relationship with Adonis while she was in a shop, if it was even possible. Her friends would probably accuse her of being a cougar again, given the age gap between them.
She slung all three dresses over her arm and approached the counter. The store owner’s excitement was palpable from several feet away.
‘I’ll take the lot please, plus the scarf and the keyrings.’
‘Of course, madam.’
Madam was worse than lady in Sofia’s opinion, but she’d committed to buying them now.
She doled out the keyrings, and after they’d fixed them to their bags, they merged with the gaggle of people making their way through the streets, walking towards the sound of live music and the smell of frying meat and herbs in the air.