Page 67 of Summer in Greece

‘Did anyone find the treasure?’ Perkins asked.

Manno lifted his chin. ‘How can we know? They would keep it secret, yes?’

‘It appears quite forebidding,’ Nurse Josephine said, staring with puffy eyes at the high cliffs. ‘A difficult place to get on or off.’

‘Are you feeling better, Nurse Josephine?’ I asked, noticing a little colour had returned to her cheeks. She nodded.

As we skirted the landmass, I saw a great splash in the water. At first, I thought it was someone swimming, but we were a mile from the shore. I squinted with my hand shading my eyes and realised I must have been mistaken.

‘What are you looking at, Gertie?’ Josephine asked.

‘I thought I saw splashing, over there, but it’s stopped. Perhaps my imagination.’

‘Or fish,’ Josephine said. ‘I’ve seen them leap out of the water on a calm day.’

The sun glinted off the sea, then suddenly there was another great splash further to the right.

‘Oh! There it was again. Did anyone see it?’

‘That will be a dolphin, nurse,’ Manno called over the throb of the engine.

‘A dolphin . . . could it be my dolphin? The one that saved me – Delphi?’

‘Who knows,’ Manno said. ‘There are many dolphins in these parts. Listen to me. You must think good thoughts and send them to the dolphins. If you are true enough, they will hear you and come.’

He steered the boat a little closer to the cliffs. We all scanned the water as we travelled on, praying to the dolphins, hoping they would appear.

‘This is nonsense,’ Perkins said. ‘How can they hear our thoughts?’

‘I don’t know all the answers, I just know what they do,’ Manno said. ‘There is something so magnificent and powerful in nature, but we humans are not capable of understanding. Not since we turned away from these natural things, and started to worship money. Let me ask you something, my friend, of all the bodies in the water – and I am told there were plenty – how did Delphi know that Nurse Gertie was the one who should be saved? If the dolphin had not saved Nurse Gertie, then Nurse Gertie could not have saved you.’

We were silent with his words, disbelieving, then wondering, could he be right? We were still engrossed with our thoughts when – with an exclamation of shock from us all – a dolphin leapt up behind the boat. I believe I squealed. The dolphin bobbed in and out of the water alongside us, reminding me of one of our Arthur’s skimming stones. Then I realised there were several of them, impossible to count because they were dipping up and down through the water like crotchets in a lively tune. They raced to the front of the caïque, ducking under the prow and coming up on the other side. Laughing at us with their upturned mouths and wise, round eyes. I almost cried with joy.

I scrambled down the centre of the boat to the bow, in a most unladylike way, not caring what I looked like, only wanting to get closer to the dolphins. Josephine held her hand out and guided me to squeeze onto the bench between her and Perkins. I twisted on the seat so that I could hang over the prow.

Goodness, they came so close! For a moment I was back in the water, descending through the detritus and carnage, following Sissy’s watch to the bottom. I had thought it was a torpedo rushing towards me, because I had seen them, hundreds of them, lined up in Sissy’s book. I had never seen a live dolphin before and had no notion they were so intelligent. I felt blessed.

Perkins rocked back and forth, rubbing his thigh.

‘Are you in pain, soldier?’ I asked, reluctant to turn away from the water.

He nodded; lips a thin line, face ashen.

‘Oh, please, Nurse Josephine, can we help him?’ Suddenly, my heart ached for poor Corporal Perkins.

Josephine felt his forehead and took his pulse. ‘Too much activity all at once.’ She turned to Manno. ‘Is it much further?’

‘Another two hours, maybe. We are halfway. You want I make a bed with the nets so he can lay down in the bottom of the boat?’ She nodded. Yianni took the tiller and they all gripped the sides as Manno manoeuvred the mail sack to the back of the boat. He gathered the great pile of nets into the centre. Josephine’s face stiffened. She focused on her patient, and struggled to get Perkins prostrate on the fishing gear.

‘I’m going to give you a shot to ease your pain, Perkins,’ she said, kneeling at his side and producing a hypodermic from her medical bag. She turned to Manno who was standing firmly with his hands on his hips as if on dry land.

‘Can you stop the boat for a moment? I need to be accurate with the needle.’

Manno spoke to his father, and Yianni turned off the engine. The silence was wonderful. The little boat lifted and dropped gently on the swell. Perkins groaned as Josephine injected the morphine.

‘You’ll feel better in a few moments, Corporal. Relax now,’ she said.

‘Look,’ Perkins whispered, staring at the sky. ‘Vultures, up there, waiting for the end of me.’