The Darkest Hour

by Roberta Kagan

  I don’t know a lot about Hitler, but what I do know is that he has declared war and invaded most of Europe. I’m not entirely sure how the Greek Jews fit into this madness or why they are being hunted like animals.

  Before I arrived at the cemetery, I saw the undertaker and his cart far off into the distance. Father Haralambos was with him. It was easy to spot the priest because of his long flowing black robes. They are busy men these days. Kirios Grigori and Father Haralambos take the bodies out to a field because the usual town cemetery has run out of space. There are so many dead. Father H prays for them, but I’m not sure why. They’re gone, and it’s too late for them. Whole families have perished and are in the same plot.

  My papa is not buried in that bloodied field. We buried him in the Lambros Grove, and that’s where I was headed. Everyone knew where the Lambros Grove was. You could see it for miles because of the large gnarly trees just inside it. I’m not sure how old those trees are, but they stand like sentinels. I have spent quite some time sitting on one of the limbs of the tree I called Goliath. It’s a pretty place, for a cemetery.

  Lambros Grove wasn’t really a real grove but more of a family burial ground. Papa had decided that we needed our own family plot for everyone to be buried in once my grandparents died. It’s not normal to bury the dead for longer than three years, and I still don’t know why. Most people are exhumed, and their bones put in small boxes.

  I shuddered at the thought of someone putting my bones in a box.

  My father chose that area because it was peaceful and overlooked the mountains. He must have hated the idea of small boxes as well. Kirios Grigori looks after it because Papa was kind to him when his wife died, and he has never forgotten my father’s kindness. That’s what I love about living in Farsala. People care about one another. With the war raging all around us, it’s important to care about your compatriots, because if you don’t, what else is there? Betrayal is never the answer, and that will only lead to death.

  I approached Papa’s grave, and an overwhelming sadness engulfed me when I knelt in front of it. My father gave his life to save others. At the funeral, Father H read from the Bible where it says that no greater love has one man than to lay down his life for his friends. My papa was honorable and courageous. Father Haralambos’ words are beautiful, but I would have preferred to have my father alive. It was getting late, and if I wanted to beat the curfew, I would have to get home. I dug into the ground and created a hole big enough to bury the gun. I covered it up and placed some dry leaves over it.

  Even though the sun was setting, I found myself unwilling to leave the cemetery and decided to climb one of the trees. I sat back against the trunk and wondered what I was going to do next. My thoughts turned back to the Italians and why they burnt the forest. A few Jews escaping from where they had put them is not a good reason to torch an entire forest. There weren’t just Italian voices that I heard. There were Germans as well. I had thought the Germans had taken control of Thessaloniki and up north, but they were down here now. Why? What does it mean that the German thugs are here? For the Jews, it means death. What about the rest of us?

  “STOP!”

  I turned towards the sound to see an Italian soldier running through the field. I wasn’t sure why he was yelling for someone to stop because I didn’t see anyone. He kept on shouting and ran towards the other side of the field. I’ve been trying to learn Italian since they arrived so I can understand what they are saying. He was too far away to see me, so I doubt he was yelling at me.

  It was just another crazy Italian until I caught sight of someone just outside the grove. They were trying to hide behind some fallen trees.

  “Come this way!” I cried out in Greek hoping the soldier who had passed his quarry didn’t hear me. The man looked up at me, and I kept on gesturing for him to cross into the grove. He looked scared and was hesitating.

  I urged him to come over and he finally stood up. I didn’t know what I was going to do now that he trusted me, but we would go back to the farm and Mama would know what to do.

  I was climbing down from the tree when I heard the gunshot. I jumped down onto the ground and leaned around the tree to find the Italian soldier had backtracked and shot the man. He lay there in the field with the soldier over him. He was murdered only a few feet away from me.

  I cursed myself for leaving my crossbow at home because I could have used it to kill another murdering thug. It was one of those times when I acted before I thought when I picked up a rock, leaned across, and threw it at the soldier.

  The rock hit him on the helmet and didn’t do any damage, but he saw me. Now I was in real trouble because his face contorted in rage. I reached into my boot for my knife, and to my horror, I remembered I had forgotten to bring the blade as well!

  I was going to die. The soldier fired at me, but he hit the tree instead. I could run out of the grove, but he would shoot me. I could run the other way out of the orchard, but there might be other soldiers nearby. I was running out of options because the soldier was heading my way. I could hear him swearing, and I made a run for it.

  The Italian spotted me and fired again, and I was sure the bullet whizzed past my ear as I ran for my life. I managed to hide behind my grandfather’s headstone, which was more prominent than the rest. I had no options left, and the light was fading. The only way I was going to survive this encounter was to run into the soldier and surprise him. I could hear him coming, and if I looked around the headstone, I would get a good idea of how far I needed to run to barrel into him.

  I counted to three and peeked. The soldier was looking away from me. I bolted from behind the headstone at full pelt. I literally ran into the soldier but didn’t manage to surprise him because I bounced off him. I wasn’t a match for his bulky build.

  He smiled down at me, and I was looking at the barrel of his rifle and the end of my life. For a moment, he took his hand off the gun and waved at me before he was going to fire.

  Do I meet my end with my eyes shut or do I stare death in the face? Those are the stupid things I thought about, and in that split second, I decided I wasn’t ready to die. I grabbed some soil that lay beneath my hand and flung it at him.

  I had enough time to get up off the ground while the soldier was yelling, and I ran past him and out of the grove. I ran so fast my lungs were burning. I could hear the gunshots as they were getting closer and closer.

  I sure hoped he was going to run out of bullets because I was getting tired. We both left the field, and I bolted for the nearest forest of trees. At least this way I could hide and try to get my breath back.

  I stopped because I couldn’t hear the soldier. If I looked around the tree I was hiding behind, I would signal where I was if he saw me. I took the chance, and to my horror, the soldier was right there. He thrust out his hand and grabbed my hair and slammed me into the tree.

  I hit that tree with such force that I felt it all the way to the marrow of my bones. I was about to die, and my short-lived Resistance activities were going to go down as the worst in history. He threw me on the ground and pointed his gun at me.

  I took a deep breath and waited for the end. The gun went off, and the soldier lay on top of me. I started screaming like a frightened little girl when I saw boots near my head. This was indeed going to be the end of me.

  Chapter 8

  There are days when it’s best to just stay in bed with the covers over your head. I should have spent the whole year like that. My head was throbbing, and I was bleeding from where I had connected with the tree. I could taste blood in my mouth and spat at the dead Italian. One thing you should never do—spit on someone who is lying on top of you. Like spitting into the wind, spitting up is never a good idea.

  I had another problem; the Italians had found us. I started to protest loudly and tried to hit out when someone with a firm grip took hold of me. I saw a flashlight and what seemed like a dress. I thought my header into the tree must have loosened something up there.

>   “Zoe, stand still and stop fighting!”

  I knew that voice! The flashlight turned away, and she put it up on her chin and grinned.

  “Ellie!” I was almost crying from happiness on seeing my beloved cousin. I have never hugged someone so fiercely as I did then. My head hurt and my body ached, but my soul rejoiced on seeing my tall, beautiful cousin. Standing next to her was the manliest looking woman I had ever seen. She was wearing a black dress and thick black boots, but there was something wrong with her face. She had it covered, and I could just barely discern her eyes.

  Ellie turned me away from the woman and put her arm around me. “You’re bleeding, but it doesn’t look too bad. I’m sure the tree is suffering more.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “That’s a question I can’t answer right now. We need to get out of here and back to the farm before your mother’s red hair turns white.”

  “Did Mama send you to find me?”

  “She did.”

  “I bet Laskarina’s mother didn’t send anyone to look for her…” Ellie put her hand over my mouth and shut off the flashlight. We quickly made our way to the thick brush and hid. I could hear voices; again, German and Italian. They would surely find the dead soldier if they came any closer.

  To my surprise, the strange woman took off her scarf, and my eyes widened. Either my head knock into the tree had been worse than I thought or that was a man in a woman’s dress. I was going to whisper to Ellie, but she kept her hand over my mouth. The she-man took out his gun from under his skirt. There’s a new way to carry a weapon. I should remember that.

  The voices were getting louder, and my heart was loud in my ears. They were almost upon us when the she-man stood and took a few steps sideways from us, but he didn’t break his cover. The gunshots sounded so loud that I was sure we were going to have more soldiers come running towards us. The enemy soldiers didn’t know what hit them because they dropped dead only meters from my dead Italian.

  Ellie and his man began talking, and I realized they were speaking English. Despite my fear, despite everything that had happened, my heart leaped for joy because I knew who that man was—he was an Australian soldier. I recognized his accent, and I wanted to hug him.

  Ellie went down on her haunches and smiled. “That’s Sergeant Barry.”

  “He makes an ugly woman,” I blurted and hoped Barry didn’t know Greek. His quiet chuckle as he dragged the dead soldiers into the thick brush told me he did. The danger was over, and all I wanted to do was go home, pull the blanket over my head and stay there.

  Then I heard someone coming and they were not making a lot of noise. There was a muffled sound, and I knew it wasn’t an animal approaching us.

  Ellie left my side and pulled out her own gun. She joined Barry, and they were about to open fire when they spotted their comrades coming into the clearing. I almost passed out from holding my breath. I sat back on the ground and sucked in some air. My heart was still racing, and my head throbbed.

  Barry approached his comrades while Ellie came over to me. She smiled. “You’re having quite an adventure. We need to get you home…”

  “Why are you in Farsala? Why aren’t you up in Thessaloniki? Where’s Angelos?”

  “It’s not the right time to play catchup with the family, Zoe. We must get out of here.” Ellie pulled me to my feet, but I was so dizzy that I braced myself against a tree. Just as I was about to have another go at standing, I turned and threw up. Right on top of the dead soldier.

  That was the last thing I remember before everything went dark.

  Chapter 9

  I woke up feeling like someone was sitting on my head. I wished that was the case, because then I could shove them off. I felt awful, and I just wanted to stay in bed. I lay there wondering how I could be so inept and useless. It was a miracle I hadn’t been killed so far. I may never get another chance and the third time would be the last.

  I could hear voices outside my room. One deep, distinct voice was heard above all the others, and that voice belonged to my uncle Petros. When the Germans exploded into our lives, Uncle Petros was at Tempi Valley fighting side by side with the Australians while my father struggled to save them as well. Petros was my mother’s youngest brother, and he had thick red hair and deep green eyes. He married my father’s sister Evgenia.

  Ellie was Petros’ only daughter after having four sons. The last child born after Ellie was another boy. Stavros and Ellie were the only ones still alive. The four oldest sons died in the war against the Italians. They were good, honest, hardworking, heroic men. We have lost so much.

  If Uncle Petros was here, it meant Ellie was outside. The cousins all fell into two camps; we either took after the redheaded side or the black-haired side of the family. Ellie had blazing red hair and two different colored eyes, one green and one black. There was no one like my cousin Elisavet. We used to tease her by saying that God had run out of ink when he made her!

  Those were happy times, and it was a sad day when Ellie and her new husband, Angelos, decided to move to Thessaloniki to be closer to his parents. My aunty Stella – my father’s eccentric sister and yet another woman from the family that was unlike anyone else – lived in Thessaloniki. Ellie had our side of the family to rely on in a strange city.

  The last time I had seen Ellie, other than last night, was when she and Angelos visited us during Easter just before the war. They didn’t celebrate Easter with us, but it was a family affair, so they came down and ate some lamb with us. Ellie and Angelos were Jewish; well, more to the point, Angelos was Jewish and Ellie believed in a Goddess. Papa always said that it was my crazy Aunty Stella’s influence on Ellie that made her turn to this mythical Goddess. I bit my tongue, of course, but isn’t God a mythical God? That thought was best left in my head because I would be subjected to Mama’s belief in God and why it was important. The last thing I needed was a lecture about faith.

  I got out of bed and expected to be dizzy, but surprisingly, the world did not spin. I quickly dressed and practically bounced into the living room expecting to see Ellie.

  Uncle Petros rose from his chair and approached me. He took one look at me and smiled. “My goodness, ZoZo, falling out of a tree is not good for you!” He just loved to tease me and called me a nickname that only the family used. I jumped into his arms. He smelled like my father, and I had the overwhelming desire to burst into tears, but I didn’t. You can’t hug someone and then cry. Did he say I fell out of a tree? I didn’t drop out of a tree.

  “I’m glad you are up, because we were wondering if you had turned into sleeping beauty!” Petros’ booming laugh filled the room.

  “If it wasn’t for Ellie last night…”

  “Ellie? Ellie isn’t here; she’s in Thessaloniki with Angelos and my crazy sister.”

  “No, Uncle, Ellie saved me last night from the Italian…”

  Petros smiled. “No, she is in Thessaloniki. You probably dreamt it all.”

  I was confused. Did I dream about Ellie and the Italian soldier? Were Barry and the other Resistance member a dream? I couldn’t have been imagining the whole thing.

  Mama saw me and came over from the kitchen. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes, and that worried me. Her eyes appeared bloodshot, and I wondered if I was the reason for that.

  “Mama, were you crying?”

  “No, darling. Aunty Flosso had some onions…”

  My mother is terrible at lying. Really awful. I let it pass because she had been crying and I was the reason. Again. Mama put her arm around me and kissed me on the head.

  “How’s your head?”

  “Still there,” I joked knowing she had been worried. I expected her to join me in the joke, but she just smiled. Something was wrong. “Where is Ellie?”

  “Ellie? Your cousin Ellie?”

  Something was really wrong. My mother not knowing that Ellie was here when she had sent her to find me was more than strange. I looked around the room, and everyone was looking
at us. Either I was still asleep, or someone had hit these people on the head making them forget Ellie.

  “Um…”

  “Didn’t Uncle Petros say that Ellie is in Thessaloniki, darling? That knock to the head must have done some damage.”

  “Yeah, maybe I dreamt her.” Not really, but what was I going to say when I knew Mama was lying to me? She never lied to me. If she didn’t want to tell me something, she would say she couldn’t tell me, and I’d leave it alone. If she could reveal it to me, she would. I’d be curious for a short while, but then I’d find something else to occupy my time until Mama was ready. There are three things that are sacred in my family; well, what’s left of my family.

  No lying. No secrets. Your word is your bond.

  My parents instilled those three things into my brothers and me. Now Mama was lying to me.

  “I’m glad you’re up and are not running a fever anymore.”

  Fever? What fever? I didn’t have a temperature. I got hit on the head by a tree. What was wrong with my mother and my uncle?

  “I have some oil to send up to your Aunty Athanasia; let me get it for you.”

  What? Aunty Athanasia wasn’t my real aunt, but a dear friend of Mama’s who was like family to us. The problem was that Aunty Athanasia was dead. She died a couple of weeks ago, and now my mother wanted me to take her some oil? What for? I don’t think they need light while they are in a grave or in heaven or wherever the dead go.

  Everyone else just started chatting to each other and didn’t pay attention to me while I was standing there thinking the world had gone even crazier than it was. Mama came back with a lamp.

  Uncle Petros kissed the top of my head and gave me a hug before I left. There was something wrong.