Wish You Were Here

Chapter 15



My smile couldn’t possibly get any bigger, Alice thought, as they tore around the island roads on Milo’s moped. Sitting on the back of a moped with a handsome man on a glorious island was so un-Alice-like. Something like that was far more likely to happen to Stella. But this is happening to me, she said to herself, clinging on to Milo as they took a sharp bend round a mountain and then descended towards a sea the colour of bluebells.

‘That’s Kintos,’ Milo shouted back a moment later and Alice spotted a tiny town, its coloured buildings all jostling together, seemingly tumbling towards the blue water. She was instantly in love. There was a tiny white church with a blue domed roof and the road they followed dipped and curved, passing houses with shutters wide open to drink in the sunshine.

Milo took the bike down into the centre of the town and parked it outside a little row of shops. They were more modest-looking than the ones in Kethos but Alice adored them.

‘This is one of my favourite little towns,’ Milo said. ‘If you can’t bear the bustle of Kethos Town then you come here. Not many tourists make it to this side of the island, which is its blessing and its curse.’

‘Why is it a curse?’ Alice asked.

‘Well, it’s quiet which is nice but the shops struggle to stay open.’

‘I guess it’s hard to make a living on an island.’

Milo nodded. ‘So many people leave each year. It’s a shame when you have to leave a home that you love just to make a living.’

‘Well, let’s make sure that I’m a very well-behaved tourist,’ Alice said.

Milo watched as Alice proceeded to go from shop to shop, buying postcards and guidebooks. She even bought a little stone statue of Aphrodite. Alice had noticed that Aphrodite’s image was everywhere – her beautiful face gracing a thousand postcards and picture frames.

Ever since she’d found out she was going to Kethos, she’d wanted to read all about Aphrodite and the legends that tied her to the island and now she bought as many different trinkets as she could find depicting the goddess of love, from a keyring to a pendant.

Milo laughed at her. ‘You are Aphrodite-crazy!’ he said. ‘I’ll have to take you to see her temple in the south of the island.’

‘I’d love that,’ Alice said.

There was one last shop in the little row which was selling exquisite rugs and blankets.

‘All from the local sheep,’ Milo said. ‘It’s the softest wool in the world.’

Alice smiled. She was sure it was just Milo’s island pride speaking but, when she reached out and touched it, she realised he was right and she soon spotted a beautiful woollen blanket with a great red rose at its centre. Her fingers danced over its softness and she knew she had to have it.

‘Let me buy it for you,’ Milo said.

‘Oh, I couldn’t.’

‘Please,’ he said. ‘It is my gift to you so you will always remember Kethos.’

She watched as he took the blanket to the shop assistant and it was neatly folded and wrapped and placed in a secure bag so its journey back to England would be as comfortable as possible.

‘Thank you so much, Milo,’ she said as he handed her the bag. ‘I don’t deserve such kindness.’

He shook his head. ‘Of course you do and it is my way of thanking you for coming to my island.’

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek and then blushed at her forwardness. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said.

‘Don’t be sorry,’ he whispered to her and then they left the shop together. ‘The rose is the flower of Aphrodite, you know? Perhaps that was why you liked it.’

‘The rose is a symbol of love in our country too,’ she said and then felt her cheeks flood with colour again. He’d bought her something with the emblem of a rose on it. A blanket might not be as romantic a gesture as a bunch of roses but it would last forever and Alice would treasure it always.

‘Now,’ Milo said, clapping his hands together, ‘I show you something very special. He’s why a few of the tourists visit us here.’

‘He?’

‘Come with me,’ he said, leading the way down to the far side of the seafront, past a row of fishing boats. There was a taverna and Alice could see a little crowd of people and could hear the sound of laughter. What was going on? Perhaps it was a street performer. But no, it wasn’t. It was a pelican.

‘His name’s Pelagios,’ Milo said. ‘It means from the sea and he’s a bit of a celebrity around here.’

Alice had never met a pelican before and marvelled at its happy white squatness and its enormous yellow beak which she was quite sure could devour a dozen tourists. He strutted up and down the harbour as if he owned the place, his great bulk giving him the appearance of a portly gentleman.

One of the shops was selling fish and Pelagios was getting his fill of them, his flat upper mandible opening wide, allowing the throat pouch, which was baggy and flabby, to be filled with fish. He then seemed to pause before tipping his great head back whilst the food found its way down his throat.

‘He knows where he’s looked after,’ Milo said. ‘We often come here and feed him.’

‘We?’ Alice said.

‘I mean, when I was growing up. My family,’ he said.

‘He’s amazing!’ Alice said. ‘We don’t have anything like him in Norfolk. Just a few ducks on the village pond.’

Pelagios seemed to know that he was being talked about and turned his round yellow eyes on Alice, staring at her as if trying to ascertain if she had anything to donate to the beak fund.

‘Is he quite safe?’ Alice asked as the big bird waddled towards her.

‘He’s very friendly,’ Milo said and then his eyes widened as the pelican walked right up to Alice and stretched his long neck up towards her before sitting down at her feet and then something bizarre happened. His great throat pouch started to vibrate.

‘Oh!’ Alice cried as she watched the strange scene before her. ‘What’s he doing?’

‘I don’t know,’ Milo said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it in my life but I think he likes you!’

The locals were all laughing but Alice didn’t dare move for fear of scaring the bird. A little old lady pointed at Alice and said something in Greek before cackling like a witch, her eyes streaming with tears.

‘What did she say?’ Alice asked Milo.

‘She said Pelagios has chosen you as his mate.’

‘Oh my God! What shall I do?’ Alice was rigid now and quite unable to move.

Milo leaned forward and took her hand. ‘Don’t move too quickly,’ he said.

Alice walked slowly away with him but the pelican got up and waddled after her, his throat pouch still vibrating alarmingly fast. ‘He’s following us,’ Alice whispered in alarm.

‘He’s following you!’ Milo said. ‘You have an admirer!’

‘It’s not funny!’ she said.

‘Just keep moving,’ Milo said.

Luckily for Alice, the pelican soon got distracted by a child who had bought a helping of fish and they made their escape.

‘Are you okay?’ Milo asked once they were at a safe distance from the amorous pelican.

‘I think so!’ Alice said, taking a deep breath.

‘I think we need a drink,’ Milo said with a laugh.

They were just walking along the old harbour wall when a dark-eyed man stepped out of a shop in front of them and grabbed hold of Alice’s arm. He stared at her and then he started talking to her in Greek.

‘I’m sorry but I’m English,’ Alice said. ‘I don’t understand you.’

Milo – whose face had darkened with anger – stepped in and his tone of voice was unlike anything Alice had heard before.

‘It’s all right,’ he said a moment later when the man walked away. ‘He’s got the message.’

‘What did he say?’

‘He wanted to know if you’d marry him.’

‘Marry him?’ Alice said in surprise. These Greek men certainly didn’t waste any time. ‘And what did you say to him?’

‘I told him you were my sister and that you were married with six children.’

‘Right,’ Alice said, watching as the dark-eyed man turned back and gave her a pleading look, his hands open in a gesture which seemed to ask whether the husband and six children really mattered.

‘What is it about you?’ Milo asked once the dark-eyed man decided to give up.

‘What do you mean?’ Alice asked.

‘I mean with the pelican and then that man?’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘I mean, you seem to attract all this attention – all the time.’

‘Oh, rubbish!’ Alice said.

‘No, it’s not rubbish. I’ve been watching you. Wherever we go, the men just seem to want to look at you. Be with you.’

Alice shook her head. ‘You’re imagining things.’

‘No, I’m not,’ Milo said and his tone was more serious now.

‘I’m not the kind of woman to attract attention like that. You’ve got it all wrong.’

Milo stopped for a moment and Alice turned back to look at him. ‘There’s something amazing about you,’ he said.

‘There isn’t. There really isn’t.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Look,’ she said, ‘I feel uncomfortable when you talk like this. Do you mind if we change the subject?’

Milo looked at her and then nodded. ‘Come on,’ he said, placing a protective arm around her shoulder. ‘Let’s get something to eat. I know the perfect place.’

He led them to a little taverna where they ate a mountain of fresh salad followed by spanakopitta which was spinach, feta cheese, spring onion and dill sandwiched between filo pastry and baked in the oven. It was the loveliest thing Alice had ever eaten.

After lunch, they got back on the moped and Milo drove up into the mountains to the south of the island, following a little road that gradually narrowed into almost nothing at all. The landscape was rocky and barren and the drop at the side of the road was precipitous.

Milo stopped the bike when the road ran out and Alice got off, taking her helmet off and luxuriating in the feel of the cool mountain air against her face.

‘This way,’ Milo said, leading her down a dusty track. There was a sudden dip and then the landscape opened out to reveal the ruins of an old temple. There were a few rickety columns, a crumbling wall and some kind of altar but it was the view that was really startling because you could see the whole of the island.

‘You can see the whole heart!’ Alice said, tracing the island’s outline with her finger.

‘We can’t compete with the Parthenon but it’s pretty amazing,’ Milo said.

‘What is this place?’

‘It’s the temple of Aphrodite,’ he said. ‘It’s over two thousand years old.’

‘What a shame it’s not used any more,’ Alice said, trailing her fingers across one of the fluted columns.

‘Who says it isn’t used anymore?’

‘But it’s all in ruins,’ she said.

‘The islanders still come here to worship Aphrodite,’ Milo said in a voice which was low and reverential.

‘They do?’

‘Oh, yes,’ he said. ‘It’s a sacred place.’ He took her hand in his and led her towards the altar. ‘They say that if you make love here, you will be bound together for all eternity.’

Alice’s heart started racing and she felt as if she was being heated up by a great internal furnace. ‘They really say that?’

Milo nodded and took a step towards her so that their bodies met. ‘Bound together forever.’

Alice closed her eyes and, when she felt Milo’s lips upon hers, she didn’t protest but kissed him right back and she was quite sure that the spirit of Aphrodite was smiling down over them.