"A lovely idea."
"We shall take you to see Knossos!" Briony announces, her cheeks turning pink with excitement.
"Knossos. Oh, excellent! I have always wanted to see it."
"Yes, and Jeffrey won’t complain because he adores old things, even if they are crumbling ruins," Briony rests her chin on her fist and angles her head in contemplation. The rays of lights streaming in from above turn her hair into a helm of glowing gold.
"Perhaps we should ask Darius to come along?" I add, thinking of the insight the small, neat man could provide on such an outing.
"Yes. Very good idea. We might ask the Zareks and Paul and Rosie to join us, too. Or would you mind?"
"Not at all. The more the merrier. In fact, why not ask the inspector as well!"
"Oh, I don’t know—" Briony looks at me with a slight downturn of her mouth before realizing my less than serious intent and grinning, wiggling her head. "Very amusing. Nine are plenty. I will ask cook and Niobe to prepare something for the picnic, and then we will give them the rest of the day off. There, you see what a good employer I am?"
"Indeed. I had no doubt as to that. You know," I venture, leaning my elbows on the table in a manner that would have drawn Aunt Agnes’ ire, "you might give Yannick the day off as well."
"Yannick? But who will—" Again a look of understanding dawns upon her face. "You want to drive? You do not even know the way?"
"Someone can sit beside me with a map. I happen to take very good directions. I am like a dog in that respect."
"Ha! A dog, more like a bull or a mule, stubborn as they come. Oh, don’t look at me like that." She sighs melodramatically. "Fine, I will try to convince Jeffrey, and then you shall have free reign, or wheel."
I am confident in Briony’s skills of persuasion regarding her husband. We sit together a while longer, planning and giggling like the schoolgirls we sometimes still wish we were.
Jeffrey easily agrees. Daniel also appears somewhat lifted by the idea of a day-trip, though Knossos is no farther away than Heraklion. Briony spends the afternoon being driven around and on the telephone, busy with last minute invitations to friends. To her unconcealable delight, Laria and Nikolas are bringing little Kaia along. Paul, Rosie and Darius, too, have accepted the invitation. Thus we are to be a party of ten on our little picnic tomorrow. After some assurances of my capability at the wheel, Jeffrey concedes, not without a hint of wariness, to let me be chauffeur for the day. Much excitement abounds.
CHAPTER 17
My day begins with the pleasant shower of sunshine I have already grown used to and must never take for granted. Today it is all the more welcome, for our outing is dependent on the benevolence of the elements. I hope Zeus, whom in my mind I declare responsible for such matters, is having a generous day.
Upon getting dressed, a process requiring several trips to Briony’s room for approval, I venture downstairs. I have finally settled on a pair of wide seafoam linen trousers, and a simple white blouse with short sleeves and a rounded neckline, which Briony argues I will dirty in no time, crawling about the ruins "all mannish-like", she said, but I would not be swayed. Her comment last evening regarding my
apparently
occasionally stubborn nature may not, in fact, have been entirely fictitious.
As I step onto the landing, Briony, in blue and white seersucker, darts out of the sitting room, notices me, and gives an almost imperceptible shake of the head, probably in view of my choice of wardrobe. She disappears in the kitchen from where I hear the raised voice of Eleni the cook.
Oh dear!
I have not in all my years of privileged living met a cook who tolerates anybody interfering in her domain.
Turning towards the conseravatory, I hear the low voices of Daniel and Jeffrey, and smell the rich bitter aroma of dark coffee, mingling with buttery fried eggs.
"Good morning, gentlemen." I smile at them as I enter. Today should be a good day for all of us, I hope.
"Morning, Evie." Jeffrey is in the process of mopping up the contents of his plate with a slice of toast.
"Hello." Daniel smiles back and removes the sheet of newspaper from my setting. "Looking forward to today?"
"Oh yes," I begin to pour myself a cup of the black brew, adding a generous spoonful of sugar. "The weather seems to be playing along. Will we pick up Laria, Nikolas, and Kaia? How will we all fit into the car?"
"No, no. They will drive themselves. Nik has an old motor, a bit rusty, but reliable enough. Paul, Rosie and Darius live close by. They will meet us at the site."
"Good." I begin buttering my toast, debating whether to top it with honey or some jewelcolored apricot marmelade? I take another slice of toast. Dilemma solved. "Jeffrey?" He looks up.
"Yes?"
"Is Sir Arthur Evans in residence these days?" The Sir Arthur Evans in question, being the chief excavator of the site and quite a celebrity in these post-Schliemann days. Schliemann being the fortunate fellow who stumbled upon no other site but that believed to be ancient Troy!
Jeffrey shakes his head, dashing my hope to come upon the man himself digging around in the dirt.
"I am afraid not, Evie. He’s in Oxford. He is in his seventies. Travel for him is not as easy as it once was."
"So, you’ve not met?"
"Never, sadly."
"I visited to the Ashmolean," the museum in Oxford, of which Sir Arthur was Keeper, "and saw quite a number of the
Minonan
artifacts he brought back."
"Very impressive and a great help to me when I was preparing to come here. Have you been to see it, Daniel?"
"I have, though I confess, I was rather negligent when it came to the artifacts collections. I went to see the paintings." Daniel takes another sip.
"If you ever go back, you must have a look. The collection is truly impressive, not as good as the one in our museum in Heraklion, but undoubtedly invaluable nonetheless." For a few minutes we ponder this, and I try to recollect whatever I saw and read about the site at Knossos. I do not want to appear ignorant in the company of archaeologists and native Cretans.
"Have you seen Briony?" Jeffrey wonders with raised eyebrows, the change in topic of conversation startling me for a moment.
"Yes, as I came down. She was a little agitated."
"She is convinced there isn’t enough food. You have been dining with us for a while now, has our cook ever let you go hungry? No, I thought so. Briony needs to have something to worry about. It’s her way."
I rather dislike the way he says this, and am formulating a sharp retort when the lady herself joins us. Her face is flushed as though she has been laboring in a bathhouse, and she is fanning herself.
"Briony, here, sit yourself down." Daniel has jumped up to pull out a chair for her, and she rewards him with a grateful smile. Jeffrey remains completely unaware, try as I might to stare daggers at him.
"Is everything all right?" I ask, taking a bite of toast number two, and deciding that the tangy flavor of the apricot marmelade may even warrant a third piece.
"Oh, yes. Fine." She nods, patting down unruly strands of hair.
"Won’t you have something to eat?"
"No, no. I ate already, thanks."
"Been up for ages," Jeffrey comments, from behind his newpaper, "busy, busy, busy." His tone implies the opposite.
I lay down my knife. "Yes, Briony does a remarkable job managing such a large house."
"I always say, ‘hire more help’. She doesn’t want any." Jeffrey adds. The newspaper rustles as he turns the page.
One ought to snatch it away from him and thump him over the head, I think, barely managing to leash my temper. Instead of acknowledging her labors, he simply implies any hired help could do her job.
"Some people—" I begin when Briony cuts me off with a sharp shake of her head. I roll my eyes, aware that Daniel is watching the display. Jeffrey doesn’t mean anything by it, I tell myself. He doesn’t see that his wife is struggling and not with the housework. But that is not my tale to tell.
"You said you have seen Knossos before, Daniel. Am I remembering correctly?" I try for a friendly tone to steer the conversation back onto a sunnier path.
"Only on a passing visit. Caspar had no patience for archaeology, and I spent most of my time exploring the living cities and towns."
"Have you seen much of the island? I must go back to explore Heraklion more extensively, to see the harbor when my legs aren’t made of jelly."
"Yes, the journey can be a trial. Perhaps I can take you some time next week? I have to pick up a few books."
"That would be wonderful!"
"Good, it’s settled then."
It takes us another forty minutes or so to wash up, heave the gargantuan picnic basket into the car, make certain we have our hats, and turning the car back because, as it happens, Jeffrey has forgotten his glasses and recruits us to search, my good self eventually finding them dangling precariously from his jacket buttonhole. Needless to say, we all breathe a sigh of relief upon finally hearing the rumble of the tires on the road beneath us.
"You must give me directions," I remind Daniel, sitting beside me. Jeffrey wisely elected to sit with his wife.
"We should keep to this road for while. We’ll see signs, I think." He rustles the map. I have to fight the temptation to peak at it myself. Jeffrey would have apoplexy. He is not fond of my driving.
"Fine, fine." I say breezily. I want this day to be fun and distracting. We have had so much anxiety these past few days, a little outing with some friends will be just what we all need. Briony, though she does not mention it, is thrilled to have little Kaia along, and I hope seeing her with the child will give Jeffrey the kick he needs.
I concentrate on the road as it leads steeply up and down, wrapping itself like a coiled snake around the mountains. Slowing down and speeding up, I cannot quite manage to emulate the smooth rhythm Yannick achieves when maneuvering these hairpin bends. Hearing a sharp intake of breath more than once from the seat behind, I know instinctively that it has escaped from Jeffrey’s quivering lips. My cousin is made of sterner stuff. I should teach Jeffrey to drive, to set him more at ease. Then again, poor Yannick might be out of a job, and we can’t have that.
The car rolls along, strong and solid; my grip on the wheel firm and confident. All around us the landscape is uneven, with craggy yellow stone rising on our right and green dotted valleys dipping dangerously to our left. The roads on Crete are not built for motorcars as there aren’t many around. They are most often used for carts, donkeys, horses, or bicycles.
We encounter very little traffic of any sort, and the journey becomes more relaxing, at least for me. I cannot speak for Jeffrey, even though I am trying to stay as far from the cliffs edge as possible to spare the poor man’s nerves. Not to mention preserve our lives.
At some stage, the road widens slightly, and we begin to encounter a few more travelers throwing clouds of dry dusty earth into the air as they make their progress.
"There was a sign. Don’t turn into the city, follow that road—" Daniel points. "There, it should come up soon."
"Yes, I see. Cheers. Everything all right back there? Not long now. Did you hear, Jeffrey?"
"Yes, yes. Pay attention to the road." Comes his tense reply. I do hope he isn’t too badly out of sorts. I really don’t see how my driving differs so greatly from Yannick’s. Really, I may be a bit choppier with the turns and drive at a slightly higher speed, other than that …
Taking the road to the right, it is only at the last minute that I see an oncoming cart, the size of a lorry, lumbering toward us, and swerve to avoid a collision. Fortunately, the road is just wide enough to allow an inch or two between our vehicles. The driver of the other car doesn’t seem bothered and motors on. I hear a distinct gasp from the backseat.
"Sorry."
"Just get us there in one piece, Evelyn." Though I cannot see (to think of the drama should I turn my head for the tiniest moment!), I can easily imagine Jeffrey is saying this through gritted teeth.
"Will do." I reply cheerily and notice it rubbing of at least on Daniel, who, as I observe from the corner of my eye, is grinning. Briony is soothing her husband’s nerves, murmering something in a low, calming tone.
"And here we are," Daniel’s announces. There is a dusty sign and beyond the crumbling ruins of pale yellow stone.
I maneuver the car into an empty spot near two other motors and turn off the engine. Jeffrey sighs with relief as do I. I suspect we probably have different reasons.
The excavated site is now before us, and I am keen to set my feet on the ancient ground and to delve into whatever remains to be discovered.
"There come the others." Briony points over the seat to the little group of Darius, Paul, Rosie and the Zarek family heading in our direction.
We scramble out of the car to meet them. The air is warm and dry, smelling of dust and wild thyme. I adjust my straw hat with a wide brim to shield my face from the blinding light.