Page 76 of Villa of Secrets

Irini, eyes wide, clamped both hands over her mouth.

I couldn’t think what to do!

I fumbled in the satchel and pulled out the gun, my hand shaking badly.

‘No! Dora, no!’ Irini whispered. ‘You don’t know what you’re doing!’

‘I can’t let them hurt him, Irini. What if they kill him? I’d rather be dead myself.’ The words came out without thought, but they were true. Giovanni had become a part of my life that I didn’t want to go without. I hoped to spend the rest of my life with him, and seeing him so badly treated was breaking my heart.

One of the Nazis, pink-faced, white-blond hair, cleft chin, kicked Giovanni in the stomach. He jerked into a ball. They grabbed under his arms and dragged him to a tree between our hiding place and the lake. After they’d tied him to the trunk, they removed the gag.

The Germans had their backs to us. They bellowed questions at Giovanni. When he refused to answer, one of them drew his weapon. He held his gun by the barrel and pistol-whipped Giovanni, catching his forehead, splitting his brow open.

Blood gushed down his face.

One soldier yelled in schoolboy Greek, ‘Where are they hiding? Tell us where is the Andartes hideout and we will let you go!’

Giovanni’s head lolled. He appeared hardly conscious.

Both soldiers continued to yell, and then my heart almost stopped when the German who’d split Giovanni’s forehead put the gun to his bloodied temple.

‘Last chance!’ he said. ‘Tell us now, or I’ll blow your brains all over that tree!’

I couldn’t watch Giovanni’s murder. I gripped my pistol in two hands, leapt up and ran at them with all the speed I had.

Then, everything happened fast.

Giovanni saw me before they did. His eyes told me to shoot to kill. I aimed for the middle of the Nazi’s back and fired three times in quick succession. The recoil knocked me to the ground and the gun fell from my hand.

In a flash, the other soldier drew his weapon, spun around, and pointed at my head.

‘Dora!’ Irini screamed.

For a moment, the distracted Nazi glanced her way.

Bang!

An enormous explosion deafened us all, and the second German was blasted off his feet.

I sat on the earth, shaking, poleaxed by horror. The one I’d shot was jerking and twitching as if in the throes of a fit.

‘Shoot his brains out, Dora!’ Giovanni yelled. ‘Quickly! Don’t think! Do it now!’

I heard myself whining. ‘God help me. God help me.’ I grabbed my gun, stumbled up, put the pistol to the Nazi’s temple . . . and hesitated. His arm jerked and hit me across my bare shins. My scream escaped as I pulled the trigger. Deafened by the blast and knocked down by the recoil again, I trembled so badly I couldn’t get up. Sweat or tears raced down my face. My stomach clamped, rolled, and I threw up carob mush and bile.

Filled with revulsion for the gun still in my hand, I shook it free.

Irini raced out of the bushes and untied Giovanni. They came and sat either side of me. We held each other in a group embrace, the three of us as one body, supporting each other, weeping, physically and emotionally exhausted.

The breeze had died. The air was motionless and heavy. Somewhere, far away, a dog barked. Zeus nickered and whinnied quietly, then silence, as if the world had stopped turning to let us recover enough to do what had to be done.

Chapter 33

Naomi came downstairs with a bottle of bathroom cleaner in one hand, and a mop and bucket in the other. ‘How’s it going?’ she asked her sister.

Rebecca closed the diary and speaking quietly said, ‘My God, she actually killed somebody! My grandmother. It’s almost impossible to accept that Bubba and Dora are the same person.’ Her voice dropped further. ‘I can’t imagine how lonely and afraid she must have been. I have this constant urge to comfort her.’

Why do I get the impression you are talking about yourself?