‘I was afraid.’
‘What were you afraid of, Mr Yiannis?’
‘I was afraid to break your heart.’
As soon as I said this the screen went black and she was gone.
*
I sat there staring at the tablet, wondering how Nisha had managed to have an entire relationship with her daughter through this tiny screen. I wanted to break through the glass, reach Kumari, pull her into a hug and tell her not to worry. I wanted to reassure this young girl who reminded me so much of her mother, but I couldn’t. Not only was there so much distance between us, but also because I really didn’t know what to say to comfort her.
Two vultures are gliding and sailing beneath the clouds, wings held in V-shapes. Far below, the empty eye socket of the hare stares up at their two-toned underwings of black and silver.
What a beautiful morning it is. As blue as a sapphire, with wandering winter clouds. Years ago, vultures flocked like herds of sheep or goats in this area; now these two are a rare sight. They swerve down towards the hare, the shadows of their wings lengthening across the lake as they descend. They will clean up the dead. They land on the yellow rocks of the crater, their tiny red unfeathered heads perched upon their spindly necks. Together they inspect the hare.
They begin to feast on the flesh that’s been left, soft and liquified by the rain. The lake is brilliant beneath the midday sun.
In the mineshaft, white linen has unravelled in ribbons and the overflowing rainwater moves gently over the blue and purple flesh of a breast.
At the guest house, the man and the woman tie up the laces of their hiking boots.
It’s going to be a nice day, she says, as sunshine beams into the room through the slits of the shutters.
I’ve been reading up on the old mines, he says. I’ll tell you on the way.
He speaks about the ancient history of copper and bronze as they walk past the barley and wheat fields. As they walk past the sunflowers, he tells her everything he’s read about the old mines and how the men died of silicosis, and eventually they are on the arid plane where the earth stretches lonely to the horizon. The sun is strong and she holds her hand over her eyes like a sailor setting out to sea.
Seeing the couple, the vultures abandon the corpse of the hare and flap lazily away.
25
Petra
T
HE PHONE RANG WHILE I was collecting grape leaves from the vine in the garden. I wanted to cook something nice for Aliki. We had spent a quiet Saturday playing board games, pretending to read, but really worrying about Nisha.
I was planning to make stuffed vine leaves for a picnic on Sunday, wrapping them in foil so that we could eat them with our fingers beneath the Famagusta Gate.
Tony’s voice at the end of the phone changed everything: ‘Petra, I would tell you to come but this can’t wait. A body has been found in the mineshaft by the red lake of Mitsero.’
I started shaking. I managed to hang up the call, then quickly gathered up Aliki and walked her over to Mrs Hadjikyriacou. The moment she saw my face, Mrs Hadjikyriacou took her in without asking any questions.
When I turned to leave, Aliki called out, ‘What it is? Where are you going? Is it about Nisha?’
I couldn’t find the words to answer her, but I met her eyes and nodded, then rushed off.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I ran up to Yiannis’s apartment, pounding on the door.
He opened the door with red eyes, and I saw that his arm was in a sling. It looked like he had spent the night crying.
‘What happened?’ I said.
‘It’s nothing at all to worry about.’
He looked horrified when I told him about the call from Tony. He grabbed his keys and slipped on his trainers without saying a word.
*
It takes twenty minutes to get Mitsero from where I live. The whole time I thought about that water, with the rusted structures of abandoned mines guarding it like ghosts.
We drove to the end of a paved road that passes by the village of Agrokipia. I left the car on the side of a cracked pavement as we had to walk from there along the dirt path, to get to the lake.
A small crowd had gathered, eager to see.
These things don’t happen here!
This kind of thing – never.
I wonder who they found?
I tried to block out the voices of the crowd.
The area surrounding the lake and gallows frame had been roped off. Helicopters circled above. We were on the slant of a jagged hill of yellow rock that dropped down to the water. I could feel Yiannis standing beside me, but I didn’t dare to look at his face. If I saw fear there, it would have broken me; I was just barely keeping it together myself. But I could hear him breathing, I could hear his breath shake.