ripe fig.
“Wow!” Shiv said.
Nikos turned to smile. “Beautiful, isn’t it? I call this my Shangri-La.”
They paused, standing on grass as vivid as an English lawn. “How come it’s so green ?” Shiv asked.
“There’s water underground. In the rock.”
“An aquifer,” Declan said.
“Yes.” Nikos looked impressed. “Just here, the aquifer is close to the surface.”
Nikos’s Shangri-La was no more than a hundred metres long and ten or so wide, following the course of a V-shaped channel overhung with the trailing branches of the willow-like trees that grew there. He led them further along to a point where the water surfaced, briefly, forming a miniature waterfall over a waist-high shelf of rock.
“It’s magical,” Shiv said.
“Actually, it is. Even when there has been no rain on the island for months and everywhere is like dust, the water, the trees, the grass – they are still here.”
They sat on the grass beside the small pool which fed the waterfall. Nikos removed his sandals and dangled his bare feet in the water, letting out an exaggerated sigh of bliss. Shiv and Dec dangled their feet too. The pool was only shin-deep but shockingly, deliciously cold. Shiv closed her eyes, let a smile spread across her lips.
“Now,” Nikos said, “we lie back and watch the sky. The sky is the other reason I brought you to this place.”
Nikos lay on his back, feet still in the pool. Shiv and Declan did the same. In a gap between the branches overhead, a swathe of cloudless sky hung blue and perfect. The three of them became still. All Shiv could hear was the miniature waterfall; all she could feel was the cool grass beneath her and the chill of her feet in the pool.
“Keep looking,” Nikos told them. “She will come if we are patient.”
“Who will?” Dec asked. But Nikos shushed him.
At last, a bird appeared, tracking left to right – not flying but gliding, a long, slow arc, its wings outstretched, head dipped. Dark, greyish-brown with a lighter head, throat and belly. It was close enough to the ground for Shiv to make out black markings around the eyes and a rich cinnamon-red tinge on the breast. The largest bird she’d ever seen.
“What is it?” she whispered.
But Nikos shushed her again, as though anxious that her words might scare the bird away. It did disappear momentarily, then wheeled back into view – higher than before, spiralling down from one thermal to the next. For several minutes, the creature circled above, diamond-shaped tail stark against the blue, putting on a majestic display as though just for the three of them. It let out a shrill, wavering cry that resounded off the hillsides.
Shiv watched, bewitched, almost forgetting to breathe.
Only once the huge bird had gone did she dare to speak again. “That was…”
“Too much for words?” Nikos said.
“Yeah.” Shiv smiled to herself.
After a moment’s silence, Nikos asked, “You know this bird?”
“I do,” Declan said. His voice came from a little way off, surprising her. She eased up onto her elbows to locate him – perched up a tree, in the crook of two branches. Shiv hadn’t heard him move from the grass beside her, so engrossed was she by the circling bird. Dec was dropping twigs one after another into the pool and watching them drift over the waterfall. “Vulture,” he said.
Shiv laughed. “Yeah, right. Like you know anyth—”
“Quite a rare vulture, actually,” Nikos said. “A lammergeyer.”
Shiv looked at him, incredulous. “But vultures are…”
“Are what?” Nikos had sat up and was smiling at her.
“I don’t know. Horrible. Ugly.”
“Why horrible?”
“Because they just are – because they eat dead things.”
“And you don’t?” His tone was gentle, teasing but not nasty.
“OK, yeah, but—”
“And ‘ugly’?” He gestured at the sky, as though the vulture was still there, performing its entrancing aerial display. “You thought she was ugly ?”
Shiv fell
“Wow!” Shiv said.
Nikos turned to smile. “Beautiful, isn’t it? I call this my Shangri-La.”
They paused, standing on grass as vivid as an English lawn. “How come it’s so green ?” Shiv asked.
“There’s water underground. In the rock.”
“An aquifer,” Declan said.
“Yes.” Nikos looked impressed. “Just here, the aquifer is close to the surface.”
Nikos’s Shangri-La was no more than a hundred metres long and ten or so wide, following the course of a V-shaped channel overhung with the trailing branches of the willow-like trees that grew there. He led them further along to a point where the water surfaced, briefly, forming a miniature waterfall over a waist-high shelf of rock.
“It’s magical,” Shiv said.
“Actually, it is. Even when there has been no rain on the island for months and everywhere is like dust, the water, the trees, the grass – they are still here.”
They sat on the grass beside the small pool which fed the waterfall. Nikos removed his sandals and dangled his bare feet in the water, letting out an exaggerated sigh of bliss. Shiv and Dec dangled their feet too. The pool was only shin-deep but shockingly, deliciously cold. Shiv closed her eyes, let a smile spread across her lips.
“Now,” Nikos said, “we lie back and watch the sky. The sky is the other reason I brought you to this place.”
Nikos lay on his back, feet still in the pool. Shiv and Declan did the same. In a gap between the branches overhead, a swathe of cloudless sky hung blue and perfect. The three of them became still. All Shiv could hear was the miniature waterfall; all she could feel was the cool grass beneath her and the chill of her feet in the pool.
“Keep looking,” Nikos told them. “She will come if we are patient.”
“Who will?” Dec asked. But Nikos shushed him.
At last, a bird appeared, tracking left to right – not flying but gliding, a long, slow arc, its wings outstretched, head dipped. Dark, greyish-brown with a lighter head, throat and belly. It was close enough to the ground for Shiv to make out black markings around the eyes and a rich cinnamon-red tinge on the breast. The largest bird she’d ever seen.
“What is it?” she whispered.
But Nikos shushed her again, as though anxious that her words might scare the bird away. It did disappear momentarily, then wheeled back into view – higher than before, spiralling down from one thermal to the next. For several minutes, the creature circled above, diamond-shaped tail stark against the blue, putting on a majestic display as though just for the three of them. It let out a shrill, wavering cry that resounded off the hillsides.
Shiv watched, bewitched, almost forgetting to breathe.
Only once the huge bird had gone did she dare to speak again. “That was…”
“Too much for words?” Nikos said.
“Yeah.” Shiv smiled to herself.
After a moment’s silence, Nikos asked, “You know this bird?”
“I do,” Declan said. His voice came from a little way off, surprising her. She eased up onto her elbows to locate him – perched up a tree, in the crook of two branches. Shiv hadn’t heard him move from the grass beside her, so engrossed was she by the circling bird. Dec was dropping twigs one after another into the pool and watching them drift over the waterfall. “Vulture,” he said.
Shiv laughed. “Yeah, right. Like you know anyth—”
“Quite a rare vulture, actually,” Nikos said. “A lammergeyer.”
Shiv looked at him, incredulous. “But vultures are…”
“Are what?” Nikos had sat up and was smiling at her.
“I don’t know. Horrible. Ugly.”
“Why horrible?”
“Because they just are – because they eat dead things.”
“And you don’t?” His tone was gentle, teasing but not nasty.
“OK, yeah, but—”
“And ‘ugly’?” He gestured at the sky, as though the vulture was still there, performing its entrancing aerial display. “You thought she was ugly ?”
Shiv fell
Similar Books
