Greek Island Escape by Patricia Wilson

Author:Patricia Wilson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction

CHAPTER 25

MEGAN

Crete, present day.

MEGAN FOLLOWED THE OTHER passengers queuing at passport control, showed her documents and was frisked by security. She’d slept on the plane and arrived at Chania airport just after 3 a.m. Greek time. It was a comfort to be part of the crowd. Here she was just like everyone else – not a runaway, not a thief, just a young woman going on holiday.

To arrive in Crete at last was her greatest achievement. She had dreamed of it for a long time. Megan thought of Granny Anna’s surprise when she would turn up in the little village of Kissamos, just to the west of the city. Megan imagined hugging her frail body. She would buy her grandmother a small gift, and maybe she would make enough money to take her out for a proper Cretan meal, cooked on the coals and served by a fat, grinning taverna owner. Her priority would be to get a regular job. She’d try at the theatre first, then at the tourist office. She could do these things in the city, and also busk to make extra cash if things didn’t go to plan.

When she’d first started performing in the streets of Manchester, it had felt daunting. People had rushed past Megan and hardly glanced her way. If she tried to observe the commuters, she usually ended up dropping her balls. Now, her concentration had shifted. She knew what she was doing. She could juggle without thinking about it, focusing on the passers-by. Women with young children and old folk were the most generous and appreciative. She found that the more she smiled, the more money she received. Each day was a challenge she rose to, and apart from when the worst weather struck, her daily profit increased.

Occasionally, she had been heckled by shopkeepers, or asked to move by the police, but in general, street arts were welcomed in Manchester. However, it would be another thing altogether to perform on a real stage, or even before the camera, with an audience that had paid to see her.

Megan had juggled in the departure lounge while they waited for boarding and made a tidy sum. At first, she’d noticed the ground staff put their heads together for a discussion, glancing her way. But what was the worst that could happen, she thought to herself? They could ask her to stop, and she would. Despite her fears, everyone seemed to appreciate her, especially when the smallest children stopped chasing each other around the stark seating area and sat before her, captivated.

It wasn’t just the money she got from busking; she loved it when people clapped. Something deep inside her seemed to rise, and she always made a bow, grinning to herself.

*

As she boarded the coach outside Chania airport, the dawn sky brightened in the east. Her excitement rose when the coach stopped and dropped her, along with a couple of lads, outside the apartment block, Rent Rooms Maria, just outside the city walls. The rep got off the coach with the driver to lug baggage onto the pavement.

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