Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
After an early night followed by a day of luxury on the posh sunbeds at the out-of-town white-sand beach, Charlotte was back in charge as activity leader, much to Maddie’s relief.
Thea had informed them at breakfast that Thanassis was now out of hospital and recovering well back at home, which was reassuring.
Maddie just hoped the whole episode was over and done with and they could enjoy their last couple of days on the island without any more attention from the locals before they moved on to their final destination, the island where Sofia’s friend Grace lived.
Tonight, they were off to a panigyri, a traditional celebration with simple food and wine, according to Charlotte, which raised money for village activities and was usually linked to the church. They’d been warned to only bring cash.
It was right up in the hills, and they’d convinced Sofia not to drive, so she could enjoy herself, although it was as much for their benefit as hers. Country roads in the dark with Sofia at the wheel really didn’t appeal so taxis both ways had been booked.
Currently crowded together in Charlotte’s bedroom, they only had ten more minutes to decide what to wear before it was time to go. Sofia had insisted that Maddie and Charlotte each pick two potential dresses, and she’d make the final decision on what they’d be wearing.
Maddie had pulled her sensible navy linen shift dress from the wardrobe, and at the last moment added a hot-pink number with tiny shoestring straps as the second option. It clashed horribly with her red hair, although she’d read in a fashion mag in the hairdressers that clashing was a good thing.
She was slated to go last, and Sofia had already changed into a red mini dress and matching heels, which of course they’d had no say over.
Charlotte was in a slinky silver number that the queen of fashion had deemed the winner from the two choices on offer.
The dress could be mistaken for a nightie in the wrong light thought Maddie, but she had to admit it looked great on her friend.
‘Come out, come out!’
Sofia’s voice was loud even inside the bathroom.
Maddie smoothed down the navy shift dress and prepared to step back into the room.
Dressing up really wasn’t her thing. She was happiest in jeans and a t-shirt, and for work she had a series of drip-dry lilac tunics and matching trousers, so she never even had to think about what to wear in the mornings.
The pink dress was definitely the odd one out in her meagre wardrobe of dark colours, the showgirl in a room full of office workers.
She’d picked it up on a whim in her local charity shop, with the tags still on.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever find the right occasion to wear it.
Sofia’s reaction to the navy dress was muted to say the least.
‘Mmmm. I suppose we could dress it up with some funky jewellery and shoes, but frankly it’s a bit school parents’ evening or applying for a bank loan, isn’t it?’
‘Charming. Not that you’ve probably experienced either.’
‘Try the other one on.’
‘Yes, Ma’am.’
Back in the safety of the bathroom, the chiffon fabric of the pink dress felt soft against her skin when she put it over her head, but the small mirror above the sink only allowed her to see down to her shoulders, so she had absolutely no idea if it suited her.
‘Are you coming out?’
‘Yes, stop going on.’
Sofia’s face had a very different expression this time round.
‘Wow! That is stunning. You look gorgeous, good enough to eat. That’s what you’re wearing. And no arguments.’
Maddie caught sight of herself in the full-length mirror and had to look away and look again.
The dress was absurdly flattering; it hugged her in all the right places and skimmed over the awkward bits.
Instead of clashing with her hair, it made a feature of it, and for once she didn’t want to apologise for being born with bright red curly hair.
She could appreciate her lightly tanned skin also added nicely to the effect. She didn’t look like herself at all.
Charlotte made a good attempt at a wolf whistle.
‘That is definitely the one, lovely.’
‘Wait.’
Sofia ran out of the door but was back in seconds with some low-heeled gold sandals, and a long gold chain.
‘Try these with it.’
Maddie had to agree that it all went perfectly together.
‘Thanks, Sof. You’ve done a great job.’
Her friend blew her a kiss.
‘Just making the best use of the utterly fabulous raw materials.’
A message pinged on Sofia’s phone.
‘Taxi’s here. No changing our minds now.’
The winding road to the top of the hill made Maddie very glad they’d insisted Sofia didn’t drive. The twists and blind corners were still hair-raising, even more so as the driver chatted on his phone the whole time with only one hand on the wheel, but at least she was confident he knew the roads.
He finally pulled into a layby before a narrow road that led up to the church and beyond. Groups of people on foot were making their way up the final hill in the dark, using their phones as torches, and talking and laughing loudly.
‘This is as far as I can take you. You must walk from here. Too many people.’
Sofia handed over the cash and the three of them joined the back of the crowd. The atmosphere was friendly, people nodded and smiled at them, but the only voices she could hear were Greek. The idea that they were having an ‘authentic experience’ would please Charlotte.
At the top of the hill, people streamed past them into the venue, while they stood and took it all in.
A vast outdoor stone terrace was set with long tables and benches, around a stage with a live band.
Strings of lights in the trees round the edges illuminated the scene with ease.
In front of the stage was an empty space which Maddie presumed would be for dancing.
The noise level was already high, as friends and family greeted each other with extravagant hugs and kisses and nabbed a table as their own.
‘What do we do?’ Sofia looked at Charlotte.
A man approached them before she could reply and pointed them in the direction of a series of long tables to one side.
‘Eíste Anglídes? Are you English?’
They all nodded furiously.
‘It is simple. You line up here for your food and drink and then sit wherever you like.’
‘Thank you.’ Charlotte took charge as he walked off to greet a new arrival. ‘I did know that though.’
‘Of course.’ Maddie smiled at Sofia as they joined the end of the queue.
A whole army of women in aprons stood behind big bowls of Greek salad, huge chunks of bread and vast metal vats of a meat that Charlotte couldn’t quite identify, next to yet more vats of home-made chips.
She pointed at one of the vats of meat and tried out her very basic Greek.
‘Ti eínai aftó?’
‘Katsíki’ was the reply, which didn’t help her a whole lot.
The woman’s neighbour nudged her in the side.
‘Goat. It is goat.’
Charlotte turned to the others with a grimace.
‘It seems to be all there is.’
The memory of the cute goats at the cheese farm was uppermost in her mind.
She’d looked at the photos she’d taken many times to study the animals’ movements in possible preparation for a series of oil paintings when she got back home.
Every single face was different, and they all had their own distinctive markings. How could she possibly eat one?
Maddie smiled at the woman serving and then back at Charlotte.
‘It’s fine. It’s not as if any of us is vegetarian. You wanted the real thing. It doesn’t get much more real than this.’
They watched the person beside them in the queue, who was handed a disposable plate with a hefty portion of everything on it, except the meat.
Then the man proceeded to point at a particular piece of goat’s meat, which was weighed on a scale, wrapped in a piece of greaseproof paper with an amount in euros written on it, and passed along.
After picking out their meat, tiny amounts for Sofia and Charlotte, and a nice big chunk on the bone for Maddie, they moved along to the drinks station, which was manned solely by men, who’d been completely absent from the food stations.
Whichever way you looked at it, and particularly for their age group, Greece was still a patriarchal society, but they weren’t here for a political debate.
‘Krasí, byra í neró?’
They’d all learnt the basics for wine, beer and water by now, and opted for white wine and water, which was handed over in big plastic bottles.
‘Surely we won’t drink all this ourselves?’ Charlotte gripped her bottle of wine like it was a dangerous weapon.
Maddie smiled at her friend.
‘Never say never.’
They’d reached the end of the line where two men stood with a tin full of cash. The total was nothing compared to a meal in a restaurant.
‘The villagers provide all the food and drink themselves, donating their own animals and salad ingredients, so that every penny goes to the community,’ Charlotte piped up as Sofia handed over the joint money.
Maddie clamped the bottle of water under her arm as both hands were full.
‘Yes, you’ve told us that already.’
‘So sorry if I’m overloading you with information.’
Maddie bumped shoulders with her friend.
‘Don’t get on your high horse. We love your facts. Now, where shall we sit?’
Sofia had already made straight for a table that consisted mainly of men under the age of forty. One of them immediately budged up to make room for her, and Maddie and Charlotte slotted in on the other side.
The serious business of eating and drinking stopped any conversation for a while and Maddie noted that even Charlotte had finished every bit of her tasty goat.
Gentle music floated through the night air as the plates were cleared from the tables by the aproned women, and people showed their appreciation for the food by clapping and cheering.
The three of them hollered along with the rest.
Sofia nodded at the bottles on the table.