I was ready to lie down on the ground and sleep. I wanted someone to wake me when the war was over. Every time I shut my eyes, I could see the German soldier’s blue eyes looking into mine. He wasn’t much older than me. Was it terror? Was it hatred? I don’t know, but I didn’t want to see his face, so I tried to stay awake.
I wasn’t sure why we didn’t just leave the cave and rendezvous with the other team that was waiting on the other side of the mountain. I glanced towards Ellie. I wondered if she could read my thoughts, because she smiled and came towards me.
“How can you read my mind?”
Ellie chuckled and sat down next to me. “You’re not that hard to read, ZoZo. You’re fidgeting and not getting the rest I told you to get. You want to get out of here…”
“I do. Why haven’t we left?”
“We’re waiting on two teams to come back.”
“Shouldn’t they be here already?”
Ellie paused for a moment and then nodded. “Yes.”
“Does that mean something has happened to them?” What a stupid question. Of course, something had happened; that’s why they were late. I do ask the most idiotic questions sometimes.
“Never stop questioning, because if you stop, you will never learn.”
I wasn’t sure what to say about that because most people told me not to ask so many questions. “What does it mean that they are late?”
“We will find out when they get here.”
I was about to continue asking my questions, but Dionysius called out to Ellie that we had company. A company of what? Ellie left my side and joined him at the cave entrance.
I expected the worse and had my crossbow at the ready, but I shouldn’t have. Uncle Petros, Apostolos, and two other men walked in. Ellie put her arms around her father, and they stood there for a long moment. If someone had asked me if Ellie had been worried about the team’s delayed return, I would have said no. She clung on to Petros, and it was clear that it was a relief.
I was a little jealous…I wished I could have hugged my father that way again. I slapped myself on the head for being so stupid.
“Ow,” I muttered and hoped no one had seen what I had done. I went over to my uncle and gave him a hug trying not to think of my irrational jealous moment.
I mentally rolled my eyes because Apostolos was nearby and he was giving me a look that I couldn’t decipher. I turned away and went back to my little corner of the cave.
After Ellie finished speaking to them, she came over and sat beside me. She just stared at me. “What?”
“Go and talk to him.”
“Who?”
“Your boyfriend.”
Ellie was having far too much fun at my expense. I glanced at Apostolos, who sat just a little further away from me, and let out a low growl that had Ellie laughing. That wasn’t my intention.
“What’s wrong with him, Zo?”
“He’s old enough to be my father!”
“Was your papa a child when he had you? He’s just eight years older than you.”
“That’s old. Look at that hair! It’s so black that if you stick him in the sun, it turns blue.”
Ellie snickered. “He has beautiful eyes.”
“Light blue eyes are unnatural, and he’s so tall that I’m going to need a ladder to talk to him!”
Ellie fell over laughing. “Oh, Zoe, I love you, but you are adorable when you’re clueless.”
“I don’t want to marry him.”
“No one is forcing you to marry him now. You’re too young. When you get to sixteen, then you two will make a beautiful couple.”
I almost gagged at the thought. I stopped myself from saying, ‘why don’t you marry him?’ At least I’m not an insensitive imbecile all the time.
“He’s just come back from battle, and he wants to talk to someone.”
“Where do you think I was? I wasn’t baking bread.”
Ellie’s obvious amusement was making me slightly annoyed. “Yeah, but it was a little dicey, so he might want a little…”
I stared incredulously at her. I leaned in and whispered, “Are you asking me to go over there and kiss him?”
“Heavens, no! Just talk to him.”
I sighed. “When are we leaving?”
“Soon. We’re waiting for our trucks to arrive so they can take our precious cargo. Once they do, that team will handle their rescue from there.”
“The dawn is nearly here; won’t it be too late if we delay?”
“We have a few more hours before daybreak,” Ellie reassured me and glanced at Apostolos again. “You and he would make such beautiful babies. With his hair and your eyes…”
I slapped my cousin on the head, which only made her laugh more. I loved watching her laugh because it made me feel good. She was still chuckling when she left me.
It didn’t take Apostolos long to make his way over. I really wanted to move, but that was rude even for me. He sat down and let his head fall back and looked up into the cave wall. I rolled my eyes. What was he trying to do?
“Zo…”
“Zoe,” I corrected him. Only my family called me ‘Zo’ or ‘ZoZo.’
“Miss Lambros…”
“Oh, dear God,” I muttered. He was older, but he turned away and didn’t look at me. What kind of fool doesn’t look you in the eye, especially when he was trying to impress me? “What do you want, Toli?”
Have you ever seen a puppy when you're playful with them? They wag their tail, and they have a happy look on their face. If Apostolos was a dog, then his big blue eyes would be all round with happiness and his tail would spin at dizzying speed. It didn’t take much to make him happy. I had only used his nickname. I didn’t agree to marry him. Is that how all men are? God help me.
“I know it’s not the right time to talk to you about this…”
He was not going to ask me to marry him, was he? I hoped I wouldn’t be forced to shoot him with my crossbow. It was loaded and ready.
“I don’t want to marry you.”
“Oh, I know that.”
Oh, good. He wasn’t a complete idiot.
“I didn’t mean we should get married now. You’re too young, and you know, young and young…”
What? What was he babbling about?
“When you’re older, then we can get married like your father promised.”
He was still talking, and for the first time, I thought ill of my father. How could he promise me in marriage to an Athenian with lunatic blue eyes and that stupid accent of his? What was my father thinking! Must have been the anxiety about the war. That had to be it.
“Don’t you find it old-fashioned to be promised in marriage?” Please, say yes, please.
“No. It’s a great tradition. That’s how my parents got married.”
Of course, they did. Oh God spare me, I’m sorry I called you names. Save me. Just when I was losing hope, I remembered something.
“I don’t have a dowry.”
“You have all the fields your father left you, and your brother’s fields and houses.”
Damn. Forgot about the fields. “Do you want to marry me for my money?”
Apostolos laughed, and all I wanted to do was slap him. “I have more than enough money to keep you in luxury. You will be my queen with servants and everything you want.”
Keep me in luxury? Keep me? Ugh.
“I know it will take some time for you to love me, but it will happen. I can wait.”
I was going to make a snarky comment, but he was honest. I could see it in his eyes. I believed him. “Toli, I’m not ready to marry you.”
“Oh no, not now! When you turn sixteen. We will have a huge wedding, and everyone will dance and sing.”
“Not even then.”
“You say that now because you’re not ready, but I will prove to you how much I love you.”
I had never had any boys give me their undying love before. What was I supposed to do with that? I was about to tell him that I wasn’t going to be ready at sixteen either when I saw Ellie approaching. Gone were the smiles and the relaxed woman I had seen only thirty minutes before.
She went down on her haunches and touched my hand. “I want you to get up and go with Stavros, Apostolos, and Dionysius. The cave has another exit, but it will take you some time to get out. You are to go through the caves with our guests.”
“I thought we were waiting on—”
“We’re not. Dimitri went further down the path looking for the truck. The Germans found them. We need to get the women and children out of here.”
“You’re not coming with us?”
“No. I’m staying with my father and the rest of the men.”
“What are you defending? Piles of rocks? I’m staying with you.” I was getting more than a little angry at this new arrangement.
Ellie put her hands on either side of my shoulders. “I’m giving you an order. Your mission is to save those women and children.”
“Why?”
I could see the frustration in her eyes. I could see she wanted to yell at me to follow orders like a good soldier, but she didn’t say a word for a long moment. “One of the women in that group is an important member of the Resistance. If she is captured…it’s important, Zoe. Do you understand?”
“Yes, but why would we do this in the first place? Why did we wait so long?”
“That wasn’t the plan.”
“Well, it’s the plan now. Let’s all leave.”
“We can’t. When the Germans find the cave empty, they will enter and follow us.”
“Or they could say no one is here and move on.”
“We can’t let the Germans capture this woman. She was already in their grasp and they didn’t know who she was then…You need to listen to me.”
“I’m going to, but how do we know that the Germans won’t be waiting for us when we get out?”
“You don’t know, but there’s no reason they should be there.”
“That’s reassuring,” I replied sarcastically.
Ellie smiled and took off her gold chain with her wedding band that hung around her neck. She put it in my hand. “I’ll come over to the farm, and you can give this back to me.”
“You promise?”
“I promise. Now get going.”
She was lying to me. We both knew she was lying because they were going to stay behind and battle the Germans and Italians. I hugged her and held on for longer than I should have. I didn’t want to leave her. My heart was screaming at me to stay, but I had to go.
We rounded the women and children and headed further into the caves. I stopped before joining them and looked back. There was my cousin, my sister, my best friend. The fierce warrior. She smiled at me and pointed for me to follow.
Did the Spartans cry as they left King Leonidas to face the mighty Persians with just three hundred men? I doubt they wept for their king because they were mighty warriors. I was not a warrior. I was a thirteen-year-old girl, and I was leaving Ellie to face demonic forces. Bitter, angry tears rolled down my cheeks as I ran to catch up.
I hate God. I hate him with all my heart.