The Gypsy's Dream Read Online Free Page B

speaks into the receiver. The village taxi driver, Nikos, is always fun on the phone, and Stella chats and the minutes pass. A large black beetle, a chrisomiga, flies into the shop. Stella thinks they are funny: they fly into things as if they are blind. Close up, they are beautiful greeny-gold colour. The beetle hits the grill hood, drawing her attention back to the cooking. With the receiver tucked under her chin, she moves the sausages to the side of the grill to keep warm and turns over the chicken, which is spitting above the hot coals. Nikos is telling her a story of a lady who booked his taxi to take her goat to her brother’s, and insisted it sit in the back with her. She wipes tears of laughter from her eyes with the back of her hand and flicks the chip fryer on. The beetle flies past Stella and hits the clock.
    Stavros may not be much longer.
    ‘Sorry, Nikos I have to go, yia sou, yia sou .’ She takes the phone from her shoulder and before pressing the disconnect button she remembers why she has rung. ‘Nikos, are you still there? I nearly forgot, can you come to take someone to town? You are drinking coffee? Yes, it is urgent, she needs to go now. No, I understand your coffee will go cold, but she really needs to hurry.’
    Nikos agrees to come as soon as he has finished his coffee. Stella knows this is the best she will manage. She puts the phone back in i ts cradle and pokes the embers in the grill before putting more sausages on.
    ‘ He is on his way.’ Stella turns back to Abby. ‘Five minutes, I should ...’
    But her sentence trails off. Stavros is at the kiosk buying cigarettes.
    ‘Perhaps you should wait for him a little way out of the village.’ Stella tries to appear calm as she takes the girl by the elbow and lifts her out of her chair. The girl’s eyes are like saucers, her mouth slightly open, not understanding Stella’s manoeuvring. Stella picks up the bag to give to the girl who still has a potato in one hand and the knife in the other.
    ‘ What have we here?’ Stavros calls in Greek as he swaggers across the square towards them.

Chapter 3

    ‘ So what’s happening?’ The shadows inside the kiosk render Vasso almost invisible in contrast to the sunshine. The wooden kiosk is dappled by the shade under the palm tree.
    ‘ Why did you send her over to me?’ Stella sighs, leaning on the shelf that runs around the outside of the kiosk, which is burdened with bags of sweets, packets of chewing gum, a vase of ballpoint pens, and a box of individual flavoured condoms. It is all part of life.
    ‘ Didn’t you say Stavros wanted a tourist to work in the shop?’ Vasso is stacking cigarette packets in columns on the shelves inside the kiosk. Stella wonders why all old kiosks are painted mustard brown inside and out.
    ‘ Yes, but he would never have found one.’ She sighs again and swirls her finger around a plastic box half full of individually wrapped chocolates. They are slightly soft and should to be in the fridge. She picks one out and unwraps it, licking the melted mess from the paper.
    ‘ No, probably not. And now?’ Vasso puts her hand out to take the wrapper and pops her head out of the window and they both look down the square toward the ouzeri .
    ‘ Now he is sitting at a table with her eating chicken and chips.’ Stella looks back at Vasso. ‘Can I have a packet of pain killers?’ She feels her forehead and closes her eyes.
    Vasso reaches without looking and puts the packet of headache pills on the c oin dish in the middle of the counter, a glass platter between her and the world. ‘You know if she is to stay she will need somewhere to sleep?’ Stella nods, opens her eyes and takes her hand off her forehead to chew at a finger nail. ‘With Thanasis now in Athens I was thinking of renting his room. I will not be gathering the olives this year so the income will be useful. That’s if she is staying.’ Vasso picks up a newspaper and fans herself as the day’s heat is