Hidden Truths (Intertwined Souls Series Book 3)

by Mary D. Brooks

  Eva was deeply moved by Mrs. Kalmias’ words. No one in this small town had ever apologized to her for the way she was treated during the war, not that they needed to, because she was the enemy. She was part of the Nazi war machine, even if it was by association.

  Mrs. Kalmias took Eva's hands in hers and smiled. “When you grow old, there are days when you regret half your life. You have no idea how happy I was to hear that you would be coming back.” Eva tried to interrupt, but the old woman put her hand over her mouth. “Father Haralambos was my savior during the terrible war. Such a man of God. It made me extremely happy to find out that you were young Daphne's little girl, and it saddened me because I treated you so harshly.”

  “Father Haralambos told you I was his daughter?”

  “Thanasi told me. He’s my nephew.” Mrs. Kalmias’ revelation surprised Eva. “I loved your mother like my own daughter.”

  “You knew my mother?” Eva asked, her voice breaking a little with the emotion.

  “Your mother and my daughter, Alexandra, were best friends. It saddened me so much to see her leave. My eyes are not working properly, and had they been, they would have seen that you certainly look like your mama. Alexandra and Daphne were inseparable as best friends usually are.” Martha Kalmias’ eyes crinkled. “Will you forgive an old lady for hurting you?”

  Eva didn't trust her voice at this point. She nodded. Mrs. Kalmias cupped Eva’s face and smiled. “Well, that's one thing I won't have to worry about anymore.” She turned to Zoe, who was hovering near Eva. “So, little Zoe, are you taking care of Eva?”

  Eva and Zoe looked at each other, wondering how much Mrs. Kalmias knew. She laughed. “My eyesight isn’t good but I hear quite well, and what I hear is that you and Eva are taking care of each other in Australia. Yes?”

  “We take care of each other, Yiayia.” Zoe used the affectionate Greek term ‘grandmother’ for the old woman.

  “Good girl,” Mrs. Kalmias said quietly. “Eva, when you have some time, I want to give you a photograph of your mother and my Alexandra.” She looked up at Theo and smiled broadly. “Theodore, you take good care of the girls.”

  “Of course, Yiayia,” Theo said as Mrs. Kalmias very slowly made her way out of the station.

  “You know, Evy, I've never known that old woman to apologize for anything,” Zoe said.

  “That's never happened before?” Eva smiled and looked at Zoe in amazement.

  Zoe leaned against Eva’s shoulder. “Not everyone here hates you,” she whispered.

  “What happened to Alexandra?” Eva asked.

  “She was killed the same day Mama died.”

  “Don’t look now, but cousin Maria is headed our way,” Theo said through gritted teeth.

  “Zoika!”

  “Oh, God, please take me now,” Zoe groaned. Eva suppressed a giggle as Zoe’s cousin bounded towards them. She couldn’t quite believe that the two were related. Whilst Zoe was redheaded and green eyed, Maria’s hair was dark and her eyes were a murky brown, and she was slightly taller than Zoe.

  “I forgot to warn you,” Theo hurriedly whispered.

  “Welcome home, Zoika!” Maria made a face when she saw Eva and then turned to Father Haralambos. “Father,” she said, and bowed down to kiss his hand.

  Maria’s parents, Dionysius and Keramia, quickly joined her. Dion was a slightly built man of short stature. His grey-peppered brown receding hairline made him look older than his fifty years. Thick black-rimmed glasses framed deep-set dark brown eyes. Keramia was a plumb woman with brown hair and brown eyes. She was several paces behind her husband.

  “Father Haralambos, how lovely to see you,” Dion greeted the priest, and bent down and kissed his hand. “Ah, the prodigal has returned,” he exclaimed as he hugged Zoe. He glanced at Eva. He didn’t bother to greet her. “Theodore, where is your crazy aunt Stella?”

  “I don’t know, Uncle Dion. She may have had some patients to see,” Theo replied respectfully.

  “The least she could do is be here for your sister’s return,” Dion grumbled. “Are you taking your sister to the farm?”

  “Zoe is staying at Athena’s Bluff.”

  “All the way up there? Goodness, are you staying up with her?”

  “No, sir, Zoe and her friend Eva are staying up there.”

  “At least she’s not staying with my crazy sister.” Dion completely ignored Eva. “Keramia, do you want to say a few words?”

  The woman timidly approached Zoe and gave her a hug. “So nice you are home.”

  “We will see you when you have settled in. We have much to discuss about your future, Zoe,” Dion said as the trio walked away.

  Father Haralambos stared open mouthed at the retreating man and shook his head. “Eva, Thanasi told me to tell you that you are invited to the wedding.”

  “I’m invited to his wedding? Do I have to attend?”

  “You don’t have to.” Father Haralambos put his hand on her shoulder. “But you should be there since you were invited.”

  Eva sighed. “Yes, Father.”

  “Good. Now Theo is going to take you to the cabin. I’m happy that you’re both back,” Father Haralambos said, and hugged them again. He bid them farewell and walked away, occasionally stopping to wave at someone.

  Eva looked down at her feet. “Red shoes,” she muttered. Theo picked up their suitcases and they left the station.

  “You two travel light.” Theo put both bags down in the middle of the cabin and turned to find Zoe standing on the threshold. “What’s wrong?”

  “I just don’t remember the cabin being so big.”

  “Oh, that.” Theo looked around the cabin. “I told you on the train that I’ve been working on it since I found out you were coming home.”

  “Wow,” Zoe exclaimed, and took the brief tour of the kitchen. She opened the door to the bedroom. It was small but quite nice. There were two single beds, a small bedside table, and a chair. The beds were made up and a hand-made bright green bedspread adorned each.

  “Aunty Stella made the bedspreads. I think she’s color blind.” Theo chuckled as he came up behind Zoe and stood at the bedroom door. “She’s very excited that you are here.”

  “She is?”

  “Yes, she had an urgent matter to attend to, but she said she would be up to see you tomorrow. Where’s Eva?”

  “She’s outside.”

  “Why?”

  Zoe looked around the cabin before she turned to Theo. “She was shot here. The train station was a trial. All those people... It’s really very hard on her at the moment.”

  “What’s the story with the cloak? It’s quite warm and she is still wearing it.”

  “She wore one like that during the war. She didn’t go anywhere without it, even in summer. Made her stand out rather than make her invisible like she wanted.” Zoe walked to the window and looked out. Standing on the bluff was the distinctive tall form of Eva. The sun had set and dusk had descended, but she could easily see her looking out across the valley. “Larissa is one giant raw wound.”

  “If it’s so hard for her, why did you bring her to the cabin?”

  “Where were we going to stay?”

  “The house.”

  “It’s in the middle of town,” Zoe reminded him. “Eva didn’t want to stay in town. Larissa is bad enough, but staying there… I wouldn’t have been able to get her out of the house.”

  “How bad was it for her here?”

  “She was alone for a long time. Alone, hurt and miserable,” she said. And suicidal, she thought. “Imagine being here with no one to love you, no one to look out for you, no one to care.”

  “I know what that feels like,” Theo said quietly. “I thought I had lost everyone—Michael, Thieri, Papa, Mama, you.”

  “Of course. I’m sorry, Theo.” Zoe turned to him and put her arms around his waist. She leaned in as they hugged.

  “You know how that feels like too, so we both understand how Eva felt.”

  �
��Eva lost her mother, but not all her family died. They abandoned her, disowned her. They did things to her that give me nightmares. How she found the strength to trust someone again, I don’t know.”

  “What happened? Why did her family disown her? Was it because she was a lesbian?”

  Zoe looked at Theo. “Can you imagine Papa hating us?”

  “No, never.”

  “Eva’s did. He hated her so much, he beat her so badly, and he did such horrible things to her. They tortured her for being a lesbian. I just don’t understand it. The Mullers are horrible people.”

  “Well, she’s got you, she’s got me, Father Haralambos, Aunty Stella and Te..uh..Uncle Dion.”

  “Has he always been such a rude man? He didn’t greet Eva at all,” Zoe said. Her attention was on Eva outside, knowing she was going through extreme anxiety. She wanted to go outside and lead her into the cabin. Just the two of them.

  “Our dearly beloved Uncle Dion,” Theo said dismissively. “You know the good thing about Eva?”

  “What?”

  “She trusted you, and that says a lot about you, koukla. You gave her the strength to trust again.” Theo smiled and kissed the top of Zoe’s head. “She’s a remarkable woman, just like you.”

  “She’s here because of me. She loves me, and she chose to come here so I wouldn’t lose my inheritance.”

  “I’m glad she did that because I would have had to find a merchant ship and work my way to Australia.”

  “You would have done that?”

  “Of course,” Theo said as he gave Zoe a kiss on the cheek. “I will see you tomorrow.”

  “Theo.”

  Theo stopped at the door and turned.

  “Make some noise before you say goodbye to Eva. She’s easily startled when someone comes up behind her without her knowing,” Zoe said. Theo nodded and left. Eva had gone back to standing on the edge of the outcrop.

  Zoe shook her head on seeing Theo ‘accidentally’ trip over himself and nearly fall, causing Eva to turn at the noise. “I said make some noise, not wake the dead.” Zoe laughed.

  Eva and Theo talked for a few minutes before he pulled her in for a hug. “I love you, Teedore,” Zoe said quietly. She walked out of the bedroom and out the main door to find Eva had gone back to looking out into the valley.

  Zoe deliberately stepped on a tiny branch before she joined Eva. She sat down cross-legged on the edge of the lookout, which was shaded by a huge overhanging tree. She beckoned Eva to sit next to her, but Eva stood there with a smile on her face.

  “I promise I won’t throw you off,” Zoe repeated the words she had said six years before and patted the ground.

  Eva sat down next to Zoe. She put her arm around her and let her long legs dangle from the edge. “So we are back here.”

  “It’s been an interesting train trip.”

  “I like Theo,” Eva said as Zoe’s head rested on her shoulder.

  “He likes you.”

  They fell silent and watched the sky darken. “I’m feeling lost, Zoe. I thought it wouldn’t be as bad as I imagined but being here…”

  “I know.” Zoe took her head and held it tightly. “I promise we will get out of here very quickly.”

  “I’m really glad I didn’t jump that morning I came out here alone,” Eva quietly said.

  “Me too. I’m really glad that gun jammed.”

  “Hmm.” Eva nodded. “I thought Athena’s Bluff was the place to end it all.”

  “This was before Father Haralambos told you about being your father, right?”

  “Yes. Where were you?”

  Zoe pointed to a fallen tree trunk a few yards from the outcrop. “Over there, behind that tree.”

  “What were you doing there?”

  “I had been sleeping in the cabin and I had come out to relieve myself.” Zoe smiled wryly. “I heard someone coming and I hid.”

  “I didn’t know you were there.”

  “I thought you had heard me when I was trying to pull up my pants.” Zoe giggled. “You didn’t, so I stayed put. I was going to kill you that day.”

  “You were?”

  “Yes. I had Stavros’ gun. I actually pulled the trigger, but it jammed.”

  “You fired it? You really fired it?”

  Zoe looked into the darkened horizon before she turned back to Eva. “I fired it and I was surprised you didn’t hear my cursing. That blasted thing just wouldn’t shoot. That was soon after Mama died. I thought of running at you and pushing you off.”

  “What stopped you?”

  “You walked away from the edge and Henry came up the pass,” Zoe revealed. “Why are we talking about this?”

  “Larissa is such a fun place; lots of happy memories,” Eva said sarcastically. “I should have died so many times, and yet here I am. Here we are.”

  “I think we’ve had enough of the happy memories. It’s been a very long day. Why don’t we go inside? I’ll give you a nice massage and you can actually get some sleep. What do you think?” Zoe put her hand at the small of Eva’s back and rubbed it a little.

  “I need to get up and go inside, right?”

  “Yes. You are too big a girl for me to carry,” Zoe lightly joked as Eva got up, took her hand, and went to the cabin door.

  “Can I go in?”

  Zoe grinned. “Yes, I think it’s okay. I own it.” She repeated the line she had said to Eva years before when they first came to the cabin together.

  Eva stepped inside and stood in the living room. There was a huge flokati rug on the floor. “Nice rug.”

  “Come on.” Zoe took Eva’s hand and led her to the bedroom and closed the door.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “You’re going to be fine here?”

  “Yes, Mutti, I’m going to be fine.” Eva straightened the hat on Zoe’s head. “You are going to Theo’s house and you are going to get some groceries.”

  “We are only going to be here for a few days.”

  “What do we eat for those few days? Would you like me to catch a rabbit?” Eva jokingly pointed to the brush around them.

  “You wouldn’t know what to do with it.” Zoe giggled. “Can you skin a rabbit?”

  Eva made a face and shook her head. “I don’t kill rabbits.”

  “I didn’t think so.”

  “Come back soon.” Eva kissed Zoe lightly on the lips. “Just remember one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Don’t throw rocks at any girls.” Eva laughed when Zoe stuck out her tongue. “This girl fell for you, so those Larissa rocks are lethal,” she continued while walking with Zoe down the track.

  “Before I forget, Theo said my aunty Stella is at the farm and we are going there tomorrow.”

  “I’m going as well?”

  Zoe stopped mid stride and faced Eva. “US. You and me.”

  “Zoe...”

  “Eva Theresa, don’t whine. You are coming with me.”

  “Do I have to?”

  “Yes, you have to. It’s my aunty Stella and I want to introduce you to her. From what I remember of her, she’s zany and you will love her.”

  Eva sighed and kicked a stone, which made Zoe start laughing. “You are precious. The last time I saw my aunty I remember she was just wonderful, even if Papa called her Crazy Stella. She will love you.”

  “Alright.”

  “Good.” Zoe shook her head, and then stood on her toes and kissed Eva before she went down the track to the village.

  Eva slowly trudged up the track, entered the cabin, and stopped. Standing in the middle of the living area was a woman. She appeared to be in her late fifties. Her white hair peaked out from under her bright yellow scarf, and she was dressed in a bright orange blouse with a bright yellow skirt and pink colored sandals, but it was her eyes what transfixed Eva—they were dark brown, almost black.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello,” Eva replied tentatively.

  The woman spun and began to look around, which caught
Eva completely flatfooted. “I do love this cabin, always have. Thieri would have been so proud of it, had he lived. Helena always did say Thieri had a good eye, but I never thought a cabin up here was going to be of any use other than to walk up all frosty from the cold. You can’t tell boys anything anyway.”

  “Excuse me?”

  The woman smiled. “You are probably wondering who I am.”

  “That question has crossed my mind.” Eva leaned against the table and crossed her arms.

  “How often do you get women come into your life like this?”

  “Not very often.”

  “I bet you have the girls falling at your feet.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Ask me who I am. Go on, you know you want to.”

  Eva regarded her for a moment. Larissa had many a zany character and this was one woman she hadn’t met before. She would have remembered her. “Who are you?”

  “Your family.”

  “Pardon?”

  “You’re sounding like one of those new recordings that get scratched and they keep repeating the same thing over and over.” The woman chuckled as she went over to the sofa, tested it by patting it, and then proceeded to kick the base. Satisfied with it, she sat down.

  Eva didn’t move and glared at the intruder. She wasn’t sure who this woman was, and it was just one more unexpected irritant to the visit she didn’t need or want.

  “What do you want?” Eva asked as she went to the door and held it open, inviting her unwanted guest to leave.

  “Where is young Zoe?”

  “Who?”

  The woman leaned back on the sofa and laughed. Eva was surprised by her reaction.

  “Are you lost?”

  “Goddess no, I’m not lost. Why on earth would I want to live up a mountain? It’s cold and isolated.”

  Eva just stared at the woman.

  “You still don’t know who I am?”

  “No, I don’t, and I don’t care either.” Eva shook her head. “Please, leave.” Eva pointed to the door.

  “My name is Stella Nikas-Lambros, but you can call me—”