Daughter of the Winds Read Online Free Page B

Daughter of the Winds
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after her leaving the three youngest children encircling the water-pump.
    A few yards down the hill, along a sloping track, was a grey stone cottage with its stooped back to the main house. As we rounded the corner I didn’t know where to look first, the picturesque landscape or the quaint Cypriot cottage. There were only two windows in the entire building and they were hidden behind blistered wooden shutters on the front wall. Cracked irregular tiles paved our progress to the narrow door that stood lazily against the large grey stones. Dry, but fragrant, lavender bushes skirted the house, their elegant silver stems topped with violet butterflies. A small oblong table with a low, sun-bleached bench offered an invitation to come sit awhile. My legs started to ache at the thought of the possibility of taking the weight off them. A low level vibration in my thighs coupled with the throbbing of my tired muscles suddenly became very apparent. A sharp ache erupted between my eyebrows and I rubbed at it with the heel of my hand.
    Antheia pushed open the door on surprisingly silent and well-oiled hinges and then took a step back. I brushed past her into the cool darkness. The room was sparse and dark but clean. The walls and floor were bare and all that was in the room was a double bed with a canary yellow bedspread, a hurricane lamp with a chunky, partly used candle, a box of matches and water jug. In the corner was a chair and, behind a crudely constructed low wall, a toilet and sink. There was the slightly bitter smell of toilet cleaner sharpening the air.
    “ I leave you now and get some tea and some biscuits. See? I know English people.” She laughed, a round and hearty sound. “You tired?” Antheia questioned as she placed my suitcase by the foot of the bed.
    “ A little, yes. This is wonderful, Antheia. What does ‘The Pleiades’ mean?”
    “ Ahhhh! The Pleiades! They are stars that were the seven daughters of Atlas. Zeus made them… ah… immortal , yes? He put them in the sky. There are seven rooms here and each one is called after one of the sisters. This room is Merope , the youngest sister.”
    “ Merope,” I echoed. “I like it. It’s lovely. Efcharisto polo ,” I mumbled, not at all confident of my accent and hoping my vocabulary didn’t disgrace me.
    The large woman beamed at me.
    “ Parakalo . You’re welcome.”
    She bustled away with a wave that was more like a salute, leaving the door open. I listened to her footsteps crunch into the distance until there was silence. The cottage felt completely and suddenly remote now that I was on my own. The room had more or less everything that I needed. Briefly I wished that Dom was here to share it me with but I shook the feeling off. This was something I had to do on my own without a crutch.
    I couldn ’t remember the last time I had done anything on my own but I had to stop relying on other people. They only let me down anyway. I was beginning to realise that the fewer people you let yourself get close, to the less you got hurt. If you give people the keys to your heart it’s only a matter of time before they take advantage, let themselves in and trash the place.
    I sighed. Even in the privacy of my own mind that sounded pathetic. The truth of the matter was I’d been hurt by someone I loved. They’d lied to me all of my life and now I felt like a fool. I never wanted to feel this way again. Crushed. Abandoned. Useless.
    I opened up my case at the same time as kicking off my shoes and sloughed my jeans. The sticky heat had caused them cling to my thighs uncomfortably and it was a relief to be free of them. I pulled on my pale blue linen trousers and noted that they hung loosely off my hips. Part of me was pleased; who didn’t want to lose a few pounds? However, they didn’t look as good as they used to and it was more evidence, if any were needed, that I hadn’t been eating much lately. Looking after myself wasn’t my priority at the moment. Days

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