Goatly Goings On by Katerina Nikolas

Author:Katerina Nikolas
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Greece
Published: 2018-03-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

Sleep Tight, Sweet Pedro

After leaving the ‘Lemoni Spiti’ Koula shuffled head down back to Astakos, careful to keep out of sight. Passing the Pappas’ house she sneakily plucked a pocketful of clementines from his tree to snack on and a handful of lemons she had other plans for. Later Deirdre’s cast-off coat helped to ward off the cold as she stood with her nose pressed against the glass window of the taverna watching Prosperous Pedros tuck into his vegetarian lamb. “We will be so happy together, my one true love. It won’t be long now before we are together forever,” she whispered, following him home in the darkness.

Koula slept fitfully in the harbour-side house which was empty until Thea could find someone to rent it. She was on tenterhooks in the morning waiting for Pedros to leave so she could make an elicit entrance by picking his lock and explore her future home. Koula was quite surprised to discover Pedros lived such a simple life in his small two-roomed cottage with an outside bathroom. In one room an iron bedstead with a thin mattress was propped up on bricks, with Pedros’ fishing paraphernalia stored neatly beneath it. A single cold water tap dripped incessantly into an old stone sink, with an old fashioned tarnished mirror dangling from a rusty nail above it. Koula was relieved to find Pedros kept nothing more sinister than dead fish in the chest freezer sited opposite the bed and under the barred window, next to a single gas burner and coffee pot. Rummaging through his utensils Koula noted he possessed a solitary mug, glass, and teaspoon. Obviously he wasn’t used to entertaining and there was no evidence of another woman to contend with.

The second room was just as sparsely furnished, with an old television sitting atop a fridge holding nothing but a pot of yoghurt and a bottle of water. A chair was positioned opposite the television and musty history books were piled on top of a dusty dresser. Opening the drawers Koula breathed in the scent of Prosperous Pedros’ underwear and buried her head in his pullovers. She pondered how someone who had earned the sobriquet of ‘prosperous’ could exist in such an obvious frugal habitat, unaware Pedros maintained such a lifestyle on purpose, knowing full well it would deter any women determined to snare a husband. Unfortunately for Pedros, Koula was not put off so easily. His home may be simple but it was still an improvement on the cold, uninviting house in the high mountain village where she had grown up.

Rolling up her sleeves Koula set to polishing every visible surface with a mix of vinegar and one of the Pappas’ stolen lemons. She stripped Pedros’ bed, replacing the pillowcases with ones she had spent the night embroidering with fish, presuming the fishy embellishment would appeal to a fisherman. Throwing herself on the newly made bed she imagined being held fast in his embrace, leaving the cloying scent of the shopping

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