"You aren’t at fault. Mrs. Elimbos has probably wanted to do that for a long time." Eva sighed wearily.
"I’m going to have a word with her--"
"And tell her what? That I’m your daughter?" Eva smiled. "Or that you love Germans?"
Father Haralambos scratched his beard. "You have a point." He nodded. "I do love one particular German." He smiled. "How is little Zoe doing?"
Eva grimaced. "You were right. She’s very difficult when she wants to be. Henry and Zoe seem to have become friends, if you can believe that."
"Really? Now that is interesting."
"I never thought that would happen. He keeps threatening to shoot her when she annoys him but I know Henry and he does like her. It’s a very strange friendship that seems to be forming."
Father Haralambos chuckled. "Henry seems to be a nice young man. At least he can be the buffer between you and Zoe if it comes to that but I don’t think it will. What else has been going on?"
Eva sighed and looked down at her hands and twisted the gold ring on her finger. "My uncle sent Cerberus to visit me."
"Oh?"
"Let’s not talk about her. Henry told me that she was very nice to Zoe so I don’t know what game she is playing."
"How did Zoe respond?"
"Henry said she looked very confused but was nice. That’s a little hard for me to picture."
Father Haralambos chuckled. "If Zoe trusts you, she will defend you even with her life. The problem is you have to earn Zoe’s trust," he said.
"I don’t think Zoe will ever trust me. I don’t think it’s even possible for that woman to trust anyone. She is so full of hate. How do I get her to trust me?"
"Be yourself." Father Haralambos smiled. "Zoe needs a friend. You need a friend and an ally in that lion’s den. Zoe can be that friend, if you let her."
"That’s a little difficult to do, Father, when Zoe sees me as the enemy."
Father Haralambos nodded. "You hide who you really are, and it’s difficult for people to see the real you. If you let Zoe see who you are, you will find a kindred spirit."
Eva thought about Father Haralambos’ words but she doubted the young woman he knew and the young woman who goaded her in her office were one and the same. "She wants to kill me."
"Zoe doesn’t want to kill you. Trust me, if Zoe wanted to kill you, she would have done it."
"You mean like when she went to shoot me in the cellar?"
"Yes, well." Father Haralambos stroked his beard. "There was a reason Zoe was so angry that day."
"Isn’t she like that most days?"
"No. Zoe had a very upsetting day and she was very angry. I had her cleaning the cellar to take her frustrations on the mess that was down there."
"Lucky that gun doesn’t work very well."
"It works," Father Haralambos mumbled. "You have nothing to fear from Zoe. I’ve known Zoe all her life and her soul is good. Can you try for me?"
Eva looked doubtful but nodded. "I will try."
"Thank you," Father Haralambos replied and kissed Eva on the cheek. "Now, why are you here? Not that I don’t want you here, but I thought you were going to send Zoe? You did hire Zoe, didn’t you?"
Eva pulled out the papers she had under her cloak and gave them to Father Haralambos. "Oh, yes, Zoe is perfect for the job, but Captain Reinhardt was nearby and I didn’t want to arouse his suspicions." She pointed to the papers and said, "The Petrolakis family, I’m sure, will be happier."
Father Haralambos adjusted his glasses and looked at the identity papers, smiling proudly. Eva watched him. He had told her that pre-war Larissa had a large Jewish population and some had managed to flee before the Germans invaded, but others had been caught. Their neighbors sheltered the few that hadn’t been captured immediately after the occupation. The penalty for hiding Jews was death and Father Haralambos tried to get them out of the country as soon as he could. Eva had managed to get her father’s signature on new identity papers and the arrangement had been working quite well.
"Do you think your father suspects?"
Eva shrugged. "My stepfather suspects everything and everyone. Jurgen alerts me to my father’s mood."
"He loves you."
"He does." Eva held out her hand and showed Father Haralambos the engagement ring. "He proposed two nights ago."
"I’m happy for you." The priest leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
"My father’s dream come true. Muller wants him to keep an eye on me."
"Ah." Father Haralambos stroked his beard. "You don’t love him?"
Eva glanced at him and shook her head. "I like him."
"Can I ask you a question?"
Eva smiled. "You can ask me anything you want."
"You have the chance to escape and be free of these tyrants..."
Eva sighed and smiled sadly. "I have thought about it, and you don’t know how I wish to be free of him. But who will help you?"
"Are you staying just for me?" Father Haralambos asked incredulously.
"I’m staying because of you, and because it’s the right thing to do," Eva replied. "Didn’t you say that for everything, there is a season?"
Father Haralambos smiled. "Yes, and in our case it’s a time of war."
"Our time of peace will come soon and that’s what I’m holding out for," Eva replied. "I don’t know what the future holds, but for now I’m going to try and help you."
Father Haralambos cupped Eva’s face and kissed her on the forehead. "Your mama would have been so proud of you," he said. "Now, I think you’d better get going before your soldiers come looking for you."
Eva stood and put her cloak back on. She stood there for a moment and kissed Father Haralambos before leaving the office and the church. She mentally groaned when she saw Reinhardt with her guards. She was certain they had witnessed Mrs. Elimbos’ attack on her—it would have been difficult to miss with the doors of the church wide open.
"Ah, Eva, are you all right?" Reinhardt asked as he threaded his arm around hers and led her down the steps.
"I’m fine, Jurgen."
"Why didn’t you let your guards come to your rescue?"
Eva sighed. "There was nothing to rescue me from, sweetheart. An elderly woman just let her feelings be known about me being in the church."
"You were assaulted," Reinhardt persisted. "You know your guards have orders to shoot anyone--"
"I know," Eva replied. "I didn’t think killing an old woman was going to achieve anything."
Reinhardt stopped and brought Eva close to him. "You are going to get killed one day."
Eva looked into his steely blue eyes and merely nodded. If the Greeks didn’t get her, she was certain Muller would eventually find out the truth about her Resistance activities; it was just a matter of time.
They walked arm in arm towards the house with the guards behind them. At the entrance to the house, Reinhardt turned to Eva and kissed her chastely on the lips. "Thank you for the walk, Fraulein," he said and saluted the guards before leaving.
"I wish I could say the same," Eva whispered.
Chapter Twenty-Two
"Halt!"
Zoe sighed and turned to see the soldiers approaching. She had been stopped twice today already and it was beginning to get on her nerves. She put the sack she was carrying down on the ground and pulled out her identity card. Without waiting for the soldier to ask her, she handed the card over.
"You are a smart one, aren’t you?" The soldier sneered as he read the papers and then glanced back at Zoe.
"No." Zoe attempted to be humble but she didn’t think she could get away with it. She knew for certain she hadn’t been successful when the soldier backhanded her, knocking her to the ground and spattering her clothes with mud.
The other soldiers, along with the one who had struck her, snickered. "That was for having a smart mouth. Get up!" The soldier ordered. "Where are you going with that?" He asked, pointing to the sack as Zoe struggled to her feet.
&nb
sp; Zoe glared at him, wiping the blood from her split lip with the back of her hand.
"What seems to be the problem here, Corporal?"
Zoe glanced behind her, relieved to see Captain Reinhardt had come over to see what the commotion was about.
"Well? I’m waiting, Corporal," Reinhardt said.
"I was checking her papers, sir."
"And giving her a slap in the process." Reinhardt glanced at Zoe, and then back to the corporal. "I’ll take it from here." With that he dismissed them and watched as they walked off. "You seem to attract trouble, Fraulein Lambros," he said with a smirk.
"I don’t mean to," Zoe mumbled.
"Where are you going?"
"I’m going to the cemetery and then taking some vegetables back to Kiria Despina," Zoe said quietly as she felt around her lip with tentative fingers.
Reinhardt looked at Zoe and lifted her chin with his finger, inspecting her bloody lip. She met his steely eyes and then she dropped her gaze as she remembered Father Haralambos’ instructions to appear meek and humble.
Reinhardt laughed. "You are a spirited little one." He chuckled. "I don’t think that look is quite humble enough, though. You need to work on it."
"I will," Zoe muttered as she looked down at her muddied clothes.
Reinhardt turned away from Zoe and looked at the fields where workers were stacking the wheat harvest. "I have a favor to ask you."
Zoe stayed calm even though her heart was racing. She didn’t say anything.
"I want you to make sure that nothing happens to Fraulein Muller."
"I can’t promise that. What if she trips and hits her head or—"
"Or gets hit with a rock to the back of her head?"
"Something like that."
Reinhardt smiled at Zoe and she found it most disconcerting. "Come now, Fraulein, you didn’t think I didn’t know?" He taunted as he continued to smirk. "You are in the Resistance."
"Is there a Greek who isn’t in the Resistance?" Zoe countered.
Reinhardt smiled. "Quite true, quite true." After a moment he said, "Tell whoever you talk to in the Resistance not to harm her. I like you. Don’t make me shoot you."
"That would be bad for me," Zoe commented dryly, as she looked up and ran her hand through her unruly hair. "I don’t think anyone wants to kill her—she’s not worth two hundred innocent lives."
"So we have an understanding."
"If you say so," Zoe replied and picked up her sack and hoisted it over her shoulder.
"We understand each other, don’t we?" Reinhardt chuckled.
Zoe nodded her response.
"Good. Now go on your way before your mistress starts yelling. God knows I don’t want to hear that," Reinhardt said as he watched Zoe walk away down the dirt road.
The rain clouds parted to allow slivers of sun to peek through and form patterns in the clouds. In another lifetime, Zoe would have stopped and taken the time to make patterns out of the formations. She paused outside the cemetery and made a decision. She walked towards the gate and entered. As she passed an elderly woman, she nodded and walked further in. Sitting beside her parents’ gravesite was the local gravedigger waiting for her. A shovel lay at his feet.
"Andreas," Zoe greeted the man and chastely gave him a kiss on the cheek. "How are you?"
"I’m better now that I’ve seen your beautiful face."
"You are such a flirt." Zoe gently slapped Andreas on the shoulder. She reached into her coat and pulled out an envelope. "I couldn’t get these to Father Haralambos, so pass by and give them to him. I also have a favor to ask you. I’ve written it down."
"Alright, consider it done," Andreas replied. "I do enjoy our dates."
Zoe put her arm around Andreas and gave him a kiss. "You are my favorite boyfriend."
"I’ll let the wife know she is sharing me," Andreas chuckled as he picked up his shovel and walked away.
Zoe watched Andreas walk away for a long moment before she sat on the grass.
"Morning, Mama," Zoe greeted her mother as she pulled the weeds from her grave. A simple cross adorned the grave of Helena Lambros. "I know I haven’t come to see you in a few weeks, but things have moved so quickly." She paused and watched an elderly man shuffle away from a nearby grave.
"I don’t know how long this war is going to last for, but we have lost so many. We kill them, they kill us. They are all dying, Mama. All my friends are dying. Be sure to kiss them for me in Heaven."
The tears started to flow freely as Zoe sat on the ground, her arms around her knees. "You won’t believe what I’m doing now; even Papa would be laughing. I’m a personal maid to the beast’s daughter. Can you believe it? Me, the one you kept yelling at to clean up after herself." Zoe chuckled through her tears at the memory.
"Remember Father Haralambos? Well, he gave me quite a shock. Did you know he used to have a girlfriend before he became a priest? I never thought of him as anything but a priest...funny that. Turns out that the beast’s daughter isn’t his daughter. She’s Father Haralambos’ daughter. It’s worse than an ancient Greek drama. You would have loved that."
Zoe plucked some more weeds from the grave as she continued her one-sided conversation with her mother. "I was going to kill her, but now it’s good I didn’t. I would have killed an innocent woman. She wasn’t the one that laughed while you were dying. It was that evil nurse of hers." She stopped and plucked another weed from the grave. She sat there for a few minutes looking down at the weed in her hand. "Not to worry—tomorrow justice will be done."
Zoe stopped talking and gazed around the cemetery at some of the graves that had overgrown weeds around them.
"Her name is Eva." Zoe continued. "She has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen, even bluer than Apostolos’. They remind me of the time we spent on Lymnos and the Aegean was so blue."
She sighed. "And she’s tall, nearly gave me a neck pain from looking up at her. She has such a beautiful smile. I’ve only seen it once because she tends to scowl a lot. Aunty Despina said her family is cursed and I believe it."
Zoe stood up, picking up the sack of vegetables, and looked down at the grave. "I have to take the supplies to the housekeeper, but I’ll visit you again soon. Kiss Papa and the boys for me. I hope God knows what a special person you are." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I miss you, Mama," she said before walking away from the cemetery.
***
Despina was bustling in the kitchen, heating pots of water for Eva’s bath and trying to cook dinner, a task made all the more difficult with Zoe absent. Eva poked her head in, startling her.
"Sweet Jesus, Son of God and the Holy Ghost!" Despina exclaimed and crossed herself as Eva entered the kitchen.
Eva’s eyebrows rose into her hairline at the expletive from the normally quiet housekeeper.
"I’m sorry, Despina, I was looking for Zoe. Is she back yet?"
"No, Fraulein, she hasn’t returned yet. She is late and I’m—"
The door burst open and Zoe bustled in, muddied and wet. "I’m sorry I’m late," she said.
"Dear child, I thought something had happened to you," Despina said as she took the sack. She then noticed the mud and the split lip.
"What happened?" Eva queried, holding Zoe’s face toward the light.
"A corporal took offense--"
"What did you do?" Eva asked as she took a piece of linen and began washing Zoe’s face as soon as she sat down.
"I had been stopped by two patrols previously and so I just handed him my card. He wasn’t impressed," Zoe said quietly. "It was my fault."
"You probably annoyed him with your smart mouth," Eva said as she looked down into Zoe’s eyes. She was about to continue cleaning Zoe’s face, but she abruptly dropped her hand as if the cloth was on fire and averted her gaze. "Despina, can you please get my bath ready? I’ll see you soon," Eva said quickly and walked out of the kitchen.
Zoe glanced at Despina, who shrugged. "Come on, child, I’m late getting dinner ready and you know Ma
jor Muller hates eating late. Now empty the hot water in the buckets and take them upstairs."
Zoe nodded, but looked again at the door through which Eva had departed and frowned.
"What was that about?"
Despina turned around and glanced at Zoe. "Eva was worried about you and the curfew is due to start."
"She insulted me and you think she’s worried about me? I think she just wants her bath. She is the strangest woman I’ve ever met. One minute she’s nice and the next she races up the stairs like the devil himself was after her." Zoe helped empty the water into the bucket.
"She did not race up the stairs."
"She dropped the cloth like it was on fire. What the hell is wrong with that woman?" Zoe muttered as she picked up the bucket and slowly made her way up the stairs.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Eva entered her room and shut the door. She rested her forehead on the door panel and slowly banged her head against it. "Oh, that was stupid!" She muttered. When Father Haralambos said to get close to Zoe, she was sure he didn’t mean to get attracted to her.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid." Eva continued to rebuke herself and hit her head with her hand. She would gleefully kill you if you made any move, she thought. Muller wouldn’t hesitate to praise Zoe either for killing his "perverted daughter."
"Not again." Eva closed her eyes tightly, trying to keep the memory of Muller’s rage being directed at her. The remembered vision of her father standing over her, his arm raised and ready to strike sent chills down her spine. That dark night her mother was murdered.
Kristallnacht.
Eva walked into the house, dropping her knapsack on the floor. She felt empty inside. Her whole world had crumbled and the only person who understood her was gone. She slumped to the floor as tears flowed freely.
She heard her father and someone else leave the house, their voices subdued. She wasn’t sure how long she had been sitting on the floor. The door opened and her father walked in. He was still wearing his uniform, stained with blood...her beloved mutti’s blood.
"I am going to ask you a question and I want you to answer me truthfully," Muller said as he sat on a chair across from her. Eva could see the fury in his eyes and knew that she had done something terrible, but for the life of her she could not fathom what.
In The Blood Of The Greeks (Intertwined Souls Series Book 1) Page 17
