Read Online The Girl Under the Olive Tree by Leah Fleming - Free Book Online

American, over for a few months on sabbatical, introduced a young woman called Nikki, who looked as glamorous as a film star as she shook hands around the table. Her English may have been halting but her effect on the men was immediate. They instantly straightened themselves up, slicked back their hair and vied to sit next to her. It was as if she exuded a secret but hypnotic perfume into the air.
    She wasn’t exactly pretty, though dark-eyed, with black hair rippling down to her waist, but there was something in the way she moved and conducted herself, the way she glided onto the dance floor with each of the men in turn, that made people watch her. Penny felt stabbings of jealousy when she saw Bruce responding with all his usual charm to great effect.
    ‘Who
is
that?’ said Joan, sensing the change in the atmosphere too. ‘Quite the Mata Hari. She’s very exotic, probably Italian or Turkish. Just look at the poor blighters all with their tongues hanging out,’ she laughed. ‘She must be a dancer with that body.’
    ‘She’s Greek, from a good family. If the boys step out of line there’ll be trouble from her uncles. Her family have power in the city,’ whispered Sally, one of the students who helped Penny in the stratigraphic workrooms. ‘I didn’t think they let their girls out alone, as a rule, so they must be quite modern.’
    Penny didn’t care who she was, she just wished she would go home, but she was also curious about this girl who lit up the room. She made to sit closer but her path was blocked by Bruce and the others. ‘Like moths to a flame,’ Joan observed.
    Suddenly Penny felt gauche and abandoned amongst the crowd. The exertions of her first day out were catching up with her and it was time to go home but she didn’t fancy walking back through the deserted streets alone. She had expected that Bruce would escort her home. Fat chance of that now.
    ‘Got to go,’ she announced loudly. No one took any notice as she rose to leave, gathering her bag along with her pride. Bruce was still engaged in deep conversation with Nikki, and one of the officers from the legation was muscling in on their party.
    ‘I’ve had enough for one day. I’ll walk back with you. Don’t want Evadne blowing her top. She’s a right mother hen where you are concerned,’ Joan offered, standing to leave.
    Penny couldn’t wait to get away. She felt sick and furious that her exit went unremarked. Was she so invisible?
    They walked back in the balmy night in silence. Joan could see Penny was suffering. ‘A word to the wise . . . this isn’t your usual cattle market. All the lads here are intent on furthering their careers or gaining some useful foreign experience, making hay before the rain pours. They’ll be in the army before the year’s out, if things go on as they are. Don’t begrudge them their fun and games. You’ve plenty of time for all that . . .’ Joan went on, but Penny was no longer listening.
    I haven’t got all the time in the world, she thought. You don’t understand. I have to go home soon, and then what?
    By the time they reached the villa gate she was exhausted and heart sore. It was all Bruce Jardine’s fault. If only he looked at her like he looked at that Nikki woman.
    As she lay tossing and turning in the darkness Penny realized that it was only quirks of nature that had kept her here so long: a miscarriage and a bout of influenza. Because of these unexpected events, she’d been able to fend off her return. But not for much longer. Evadne was organizing their travel schedule. Penny was going home for the season and to catch up with the family. They’d all be gone by February, just as springtime arrived, whereas the students would be off to Crete, an island of spectacular beauty, according to Joan. How could she leave all these plans behind: her studies, Joan’s lessons and most of all her freedom? She couldn’t rely on snow or storm to cancel their journey home. If she was going to do