Chapter 32
Lili had enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. She’d returned to her room to gather her bag, hat, and a cold bottle of sparkling water from the fridge that the cleaning staff replenished each day. She waited in the hotel lounge for Spiros to arrive. She was looking forward to the tour around the island, but she couldn’t believe the last day of her trip to Corfu had arrived already. She was determined to make the most of it. With her life at home feeling in complete disarray, she didn’t know when she’d be back.
She could see the reception area from where she was seated. As Spiros walked through the door, she went up to greet him. ‘Kalimera.’
Spiros smiled, doffed his Panama hat and bowed as he too wished her a good morning in Greek. They walked down the steps of the hotel together and along the road to where he had parked his car. Lili chatted about her fantastic boat trip as they set off through the town.
‘It sounds as though you had a wonderful day, Lili. I hope what I have planned for you today meets with your approval.’
Lili caught the playful glint in his eye. He knew full well it would. She smiled at him. She was looking forward to it. The trip was going to be perfect.
When Lili had phoned Spiros to ask him to be her guide for the day, she had told him she would like to visit a vineyard. She wanted to get a feel for what Joseph had experienced as a child in Corfu, staying with Alena’s family – but she certainly hadn’t expected him to find the actual place Alena’s parents had owned. It was now a thriving vineyard and winery, well-known for its tours and wine-tasting.
Lili was so excited. She couldn’t quite believe she was on her way to see the place where Alena had once lived and that Joseph had visited as a child.
Spiros turned on the radio, and with some traditional Greek folk music playing in the background, they headed toward the Ropa Valley. The scenery was rather flat. Catching the look of disappointment on her face, Spiros told her that it had once been a lake. It had been drained over time and was now an important habitat for a variety of wildlife.
Traversing an area of pine trees, they passed the village of Giannades. Spiros turned off the road at a sign for a vineyard,starting up a long drive that Lili guessed led to the house.‘Oh, my god, is this it?’ Lili was getting excited.
Spiros glanced at Lili and smiled. ‘Yes, this is the vineyard.’
All around, and stretching into the distance, Lili could see a plethora of pine trees, olive groves and vineyards. Spiros had booked Lili on a tour of the winery.
At the end of the drive, Lili’s heart leapt at the sight of the house. It was just as she had imagined it would be. As they got out of the car, Lili spotted a young lady standing in front of the property, surrounded by a small group of people who had already arrived for the tour. She came forward to greet them.
Spiros said good morning to the guide and then left the group. He walked over to the café and gift shop where, Lili imagined, he’d sit whiling away the morning with a cup of coffee and the newspaper she noticed he’d brought with him.
Lili joined the other tourists who were waiting to be shown around the vineyard. Spiros had told her there would be a tour of the house too; some rooms were open to the public. Lili couldn’t believe her luck. She was standing outside the sprawling vine-covered three-storey honey-coloured villa where Alena and her parents had once lived, and where Joseph and his family had stayed.
Lili got out her phone to take some photos. She was looking forward to speaking to Ray and telling him all about the tour. She realised that she’d love to show Joseph the pictures and see if he remembered the place – but she doubted she’d be seeing Joseph again. Or Nate. Lili tried not to let that thought spoil her last day on the island.
‘This way.’ The young tour guide started up the steps to the house. Lili couldn’t stop smiling. She imagined Alena skipping down these very steps with the little English boy who was her cover for her liaisons with an artist friend of the family.
Touring the villa, Lili could tell they had staged it to show how a well-off Corfiot landowner and his family might have lived in a bygone era, years before Alena’s parents settled there. Lili didn’t enjoy the tour any less for it – she was just so excited to have the opportunity to go into the villa.
Inside, dark oak furniture contrasted with colourful curtains and painted vases with figures from Greek mythology. There were handwoven rugs throughout, which covered many of the flagstone floors. The thick, whitewashed walls made the interior feel cool. Lili had brought a light cardigan with her, which she’d draped around her shoulders. She took it off and slipped it on properly to keep the chill off her arms as they moved from room to room.
As they walked into an impressive dining room with an oak table that could seat at least ten people, the guide said, ‘This table survived the plunder of the Nazi invasion of the Ionian Islands in the Second World War.’
The members of the tour party, including Lili, who had been ambling around the room and taking in the fine views of the vineyard from the windows, gathered around as the guide continued. ‘They took away not only the Jews from the island but looted their valuable art and antiques. This table survived because of the sheer size and weight of it. Everything they took had to be loaded onto boats and shipped back to Germany.’
‘Along with the Jews,’ Lili added, her face growing crimson when she realised everyone had heard what she said.
The tour guide turned to Lili. ‘That is true.’
‘Where were they taken?’ asked one of the group. Lili noticed the woman’s partner rolling his eyes at the question.
The guide answered anyway. ‘To the camps.’ What had happened afterwards, everyone knew. It needed no explanation.
‘The family who lived here before the war,’ Lili ventured, wondering how much the guide knew about them. ‘They didn’t survive, then?’
The guide shook her head. ‘They were all taken. The Nazis tried to burn this place down, but they didn’t succeed. For many years, it lay abandoned, the villa falling into disrepair. The once-thriving vineyards and olive groves succumbed to pests and nature, as nobody had been there to look after the place. Decades later, back in the sixties, two brothers on a trip from the Greek mainland ventured into this part of Corfu and came across the ruins of the villa and the abandoned, overgrown plantation. In twenty years, no descendants of the family who had lived there before the war had come forward to claim the property or the land. The brothers worked the land and repaired the villa, making it habitable. The plantation has since passed to their children’s children and, thanks to the family, they have not only restored the villa to its former glory, but the vineyard and winery is one of the most successful on the Ionian Islands.’
‘So, are you saying that the Germans took the entire family?’ one member of the party asked.Lili glanced at her. It was obvious that the people in the tour group were still interested in the family who had once lived there.
‘Yes.’
‘Were there children?’