Welcome To Crete Chapter 51a

 

Oops, really sorry, i missed out this chapter of the journey to Hania!

 

 

 

Fay's doorbell rang for the third time, prompting her to bring her phone call to an end.

"Look I'm going to have to go now, there's someone at my front door...Fine, let's just get it over with...okay, okay, I'm going now, bye."

She ran to the door and opened it to see Sal standing on her doorstep carrying a huge backpack.

"You do know that we are only staying for one night don't you?" Fay said, watching her struggle with the bag as she entered her apartment.

"A girl has to be prepared for all eventualities. Besides, I couldn't decide what to wear tonight so I brought a couple of outfits," Sal explained. "Where's your bag anyway?"

"I haven't got around to packing one yet," Fay replied anxiously.

"You'd better get a move on Missus," Sal shouted as Fay ran into her bedroom, "And don't forget your bikini!"

Fay popped her head back around the doorframe. "I need a bikini?"

"Of course, were going sailing remember?" Sal said, shaking her head at Fay's lack of forethought.

"Oh yes." She bit her lip. "Problem is that I'm not exactly very tanned, I'm positively beige compared to you. What am I going to do?"

Sal pushed her back towards the bedroom. "It's okay, I've got some instant shimmer tan, now be quick, they'll be here any minute."

Fay flung open her wardrobe doors and began to pick out random items of clothes, throwing them into the open bag that Sal was holding for her.

"What on earth is instant shimmer tan anyway?" Fay asked whilst collecting up a variety of cosmetics from off her bedside table.

"You'll love it, it makes you look brown and shimmery all at once." Sal put the bag down and opened one of Fay's drawers, searching amongst her swimwear. "Take this one," she said, holding up a skimpy, coral coloured bikini.

Fay glanced at it with a frown. "May as well be bloody naked in front of him," she mumbled.

"What's wrong now?" Sal groaned.

"Nothing, throw it in."

Ten minutes later Fay was packed and waiting, having changed into a cool pair of black shorts and a colourful red top. On hearing the sound of a car beeping outside, they ran down the stairs, put their overnight bags in the boot and climbed into the back of Adam's car.

"Ready?" Tom asked before pulling away and heading for the highway.

As soon as they hit the highway Tom accelerated alarmingly and Fay clenched the seat in fear.

"Bloody hell Tom we're not in that much of a rush!" Fay exclaimed. "You'll need to slow down in a bit anyway or you'll get stopped by the police. They usually wait not far from here."

"So I've heard. Don't worry, I've been exploring for the last couple of days and I think I've got these roads sussed," he reassured her.

"Hmm, just remember that we're not aiming to break the sound barrier."

"Ignore her, she's always uptight," Sal cut in. "Go faster," she laughed.

Fay put her hand over Sal's mouth. "Do you want to make it to Hania alive?"

They sped away from Agios Nikolaos and wound their way through the rocky mountains with the olive groves spread out below them on the opposite side. Sal gave Fay a mischievous grin and reached into the handbag at her feet to pull out a water bottle filled with a pink coloured liquid. She opened the bottle and took a swig.

"Want some?" she offered.

Fay eyed the bottle dubiously. "What the hell is that Sal?"

"Just a little invention of mine. Thought I'd bring some along since we are on holiday. It's got fruit juice in," she said with encouragement, shaking the bottle in front of Fay.

"Really, and what else has it got in it Sal?" Fay took the bottle and held it up with a frown.

"Try it and see," she replied.

"No, I could do with some water. I don't know how you could even think of drinking more alcohol considering how much we had to drink last night," Fay said, handing the bottle back to Sal.

"Kill joy," Sal exclaimed, pulling a face at her, "it's mostly juice and sprite anyway."

Sal shrugged and reached into her bag again to bring out a packet of mini croissants and a bag of Harribos.

"I bet you won't say no to these."

Fay grabbed the bag of croissants out of Sal's hands. "I've just realized, I'm starving. I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon. Well done Sal, you're not as daft as you look," she chuckled, biting into a croissant.

Sal opened the bag of Harribos. "Don't think you're getting any of these now that you've insulted me."

Fay seemed content with the croissants and reached forward to offer Tom and Adam some.

"No thanks, Adam cooked us both a full English breakfast before we set off," Tom explained. "It wasn't bad either."

"Ahh I'm feeling hungrier than ever now," Fay groaned, suddenly unimpressed with the bag of croissants.

"Mmm, crispy bacon, fat, juicy sausages, fried egg, beans and grilled mushrooms all cooked just the way I like them," Tom teased. Fay narrowed her eyes at him.

"Very impressive Adam," Sal commented, "the boyfriends that I've ever had always expect me to do all the cooking."

"No, he's a proper little Gordon Ramsey," Tom laughed.

"You'd better believe it," Adam said smugly. "And cooking isn't the only thing I'm skilled at either," he added, meeting Fay's eyes in the mirror with a grin.

She paused suddenly with a croissant half way to her mouth, holding his gaze as a slow smile spread across her face.

Before long they were approaching the tunnel of Vrahasi, which ran through the mountain that cut across the path of the highway.

"Oh! Everybody needs to hold their breath here, don't they Fay?" Sal piped up.

Fay looked a little embarrassed at knowing the childish superstition that had been invented around the tunnel.

"Some people say so," she answered vaguely.

Sal gave her a knowing look. "You say so, don't deny it." Sal leant forward to speak to Adam and Tom. "According to Fay, it's bad luck if you don't hold your breath whilst going through the tunnel. It means that you will never return to Agios Nikolaos again."

Adam turned to look at Fay and she rolled her eyes in Sal's direction.

"We'd better take your advice then just in case, I've got a lot riding on being able to get back there," Adam stated.

"I'm sure that someone just made the whole thing up," Fay said, making light of the subject. "Besides I'm not sure that Tom should be holding his breath and driving at the same time. What do we do if he decides to pass out?"

Adam chuckled at the thought of it and Tom answered, "I doubt it, I've got a damn good pair of lungs on me."

Fay tutted and watched incredulously as Sal, Tom and Adam breathed in deeply just before they entered the tunnel. Adam's eyes flicked to Fay in the mirror and he tried not to laugh as she reconsidered her fate and took in a sudden breath before holding it when the car whizzed into the darkness. Once their eyes had readjusted they could make each other out again from the strip lights that ran along the roof of the tunnel. Tom grinned to himself as he slowed the car down and made everybody wait longer until they could breath again. However he soon ran out of breath and sped out of the tunnel to the sound of grateful sighs as they refilled their lungs and laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

A little further down the highway, to their left, they came across the high, sand coloured wall behind which was built the arched entrance to the Selenari monastery. The pathway that ran under the archway and up the hill to the monastery was dotted with visitors and the domed roof of the monastery itself was just visible further up the slope.

"I noticed this place on my transfer," Sal said to Fay. "My driver scared me half to death with his driving anyway but I almost had kittens when he took his eyes off the road here and started making the sign of the cross about a million times!"

Fay laughed. "Yes, most of the drivers do that. It's an important religious place. Miracles are even said to have occurred there and the Greek people believe that those who don't pay respect to the saint will be punished by God."

Tom and Adam looked at each other and then proceed to frantically form the sign of the cross to the hysterical laughter of the girls in the back.

By the time they were nearing the resort of Malia, another couple of miles down the road, the alcohol from the previous night and the lack of food was taking its toll on Fay's stomach.

"I hate to say this but I'm still ravenous, do you think we could stop here and pick up some food from one of the unmentionable American fast food restaurants that only a resort like Malia would allow?" Fay asked.

Sal's face lit up. "Yeah, I just fancy a burger."

"I was thinking of something more along the lines of some coated chicken pieces, fries and a corn on the cob Sal. You can get burgers in Agios but I feel like it's been forever since I've had that type of food. I know that it's cheap American stuff but I've got a sudden craving and Malia is practically the only place on the island you can get it from. Can we stop please Tom, pretty please," she begged.

"What do you think?" Tom said, turning to Adam. "Shall we stop or not?"

"Got to keep the women satisfied," Adam grinned.

They drove into the town and turned down the famed 'Bar Street' in search of some fast food. The road was already heaving with groups of wild, scantily clad youngsters carrying beer bottles and cheering football anthems. They were lucky to find a parking space on the side of the road and Fay got out of the car with relief and a strong determination get food into her stomach as soon as possible. She led Tom, Adam and Sal up a fork in the road to the restaurant she had in mind, dodging a group of drunken football fans along the way. The road was lined with bar after bar offering all manner of special offers on cocktails, shots and the renowned 'goldfish bowls' ,which contained enough alcohol in them to sink a small battleship.

Fay waited impatiently in the queue as her stomach rumbled and Sal took what seemed like an age to decide which meal combination to have. They eventually reached the counter and Fay ordered the food. Ten minutes later she frowned and watched as the girl who was supposed to be serving disappeared into a back room and came out casually sipping a coffee.

"Stupid idea bringing fast food to Greece, it's another case of GMT," Fay scowled.

"Greenwich Meantime?" Sal said with a puzzled look.

"No, Greek Maybe Time," Fay mumbled. "There are hungry people here in case you hadn't noticed!" she called out.

"You are ravenous aren't you," Adam laughed, putting an arm over her shoulder.

Sal leant over the counter and her eyes moved inquisitively over the different menus on offer to see if the food differed from what was available in the UK. Everything was basically the same, with the addition of a Greek salad presumably to keep the locals happy, but then her eyes fell on a fridge at the side of the counter which was displaying refreshments.

"Hey, they sell beer in here!" Sal said with surprise. "They don't normally."

"We're in Greece now Sal, they sell beer everywhere," Fay replied, paying the girl and grabbing the bags of food as they were finally placed on the counter in front of them.

She did an about turn, eager to get back to the car and begin eating, but she suddenly realised that Sal was no longer beside her.

"Don't even think about it," Fay said, taking a firm hold of Sal's arm and dragging her away from the beer cans in the fridge.

They emerged from the fast food restaurant and were hit by the brilliance of the Cretan sunshine and the growing noise of the football fans, who had by that time hit the streets on mass. A large group of particularly rowdy youngsters fell out of a bar as they passed, shouting and laughing at the people who had remained in the building. Suddenly, without warning, a loud crack startled the people around as a beer bottle flew out of nowhere and hit the street not far from Tom's feet. Sal and Fay instinctively ducked and grabbed onto each other, swinging around to see who had caused the disturbance. The noisy group simply cheered when they saw the bottle and Fay became nervous when she noticed the look on Tom's face.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Sal said, grabbing Tom by the arm and pulling him away down the street in the direction of the car.

Tom moved with Sal reluctantly, but not without giving the group a hard stare over his shoulder before they reached the end of the street.

When they arrived back at the car Adam switched places with Sal and slid onto the back seat with Fay. On the drive out of Malia they encountered more of the same chaos with people running out in front of the car and shouting aggressively to supporters of opposing football teams.

"This place is getting worse and worse, it's a shame. What on earth are the police doing? They should be cracking down on this kind of behaviour or it's going to put people off coming here," Fay said with annoyance.

"Seems as though they are concentrating on the people that don't cause trouble," Tom said glancing back at Adam, "and ignoring the people that are."

Adam noticed Fay's troubled look and opened the box of food in front of her, picking it up and tempting her with the food by waving it under her nose.

"Come on, what's suddenly happened to that ravenous appetite of yours?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

She smiled and grabbed the box, placing it on her lap and picking up a piece of chicken which she bit into with gusto. Adam watched her with amusement but she suddenly looked up with a frown when she felt his eyes on her.

"What?"

He laughed. "Nothing, it's just nice to see you enjoying food. I can't stand it when women moan about their weight. Don't you ever just order a salad when I take you out for a meal," he warned.

"Yes sir," she said, saluting him. "I quite like salad though," she backtracked.

"Keep eating," he encouraged, stealing a chip from her box.

She finished the food and put the empty box back in the bag, placing it on the floor and leaning back in her seat feeling pleasantly satisfied. Adam took the opportunity then to move closer to her, putting his arm around her shoulder and shuffling across the seat.

"How much longer till we're there?" Sal asked with a sigh.

"Another couple of hours yet I'm afraid but now that we have passed Heraklion we are at least officially in the west of the island," Fay replied.

"What's with all the bags of oranges tied to the trees?" Sal said as she glanced out of the window at the rows of trees which lined the road at the edge of the mountain beside them.

"I don't have a clue, but I'll be willing to bet that Fay knows," Tom teased.

"Of course she does, she's our expert on the island and our tour rep for the trip," Adam said, glancing down at her.

"Actually I'm supposed to be on holiday, or so Sal says, so I'm off duty now and you'll all just have to wonder about the oranges," Fay came back defensively.

"Ooh, well I reckon they are an offering to the Greek god of oranges," Sal supplied.

Fay laughed. "Not quite."

"No, they are for weary travellers who need refreshments on their way to Hania. But the question is who puts them there?" Adam pondered.

"Looks like it's this guy sat by the side of the road," Tom pointed out. "He's very trusting though; anyone could just pinch a bag along the way. Not much of an entrepreneur is he?"

"Of course, anyone who did that would be struck down by the Greek god of oranges!" Fay laughed.

The oranges, trees and mountains whizzed by and soon the lack of sleep began to catch up with Fay so she leant her head against Adam's shoulder, willing for Hania to miraculously move closer. He put his hand in her hair and ran his fingers absentmindedly through her curls, making her feel even more drowsy.

Come on, stay awake. It's not that much further.

Adam watched with a smile as she fought to stay awake, her eyelids would drift down and then abruptly open, only to close again. This continued for a full five minutes before her exhaustion finally took over and she was asleep.

She drifted into a peaceful oblivion for some time, however as the hours passed vivid images began to flash across her sub consciousness. She suddenly tensed in Adam's arms as her dreams led her confused mind from one scene to another, bringing to life painful and long forgotten memories.

"Why? Why did you do it?" she murmered, squirming restlessly against Adam.

Sal swung her head around from the front seat. "Fay! Wake up! She sometimes does that, has a habit of talking in her sleep. Wake her up will you Adam?" she asked, worried that Fay would reveal too much.

Fay suddenly jolted upright when she became aware of the conversation in the car and she glanced around her in confusion.

"Where are we?" she frowned.

"We're almost there," Tom supplied, "I've seen signs for Hania now for a while so we must be on the outskirts."

Adam contemplated the flushed, anxious profile of Fay's face as she struggled to dismiss the disturbing dream from her mind.