flaming ruins of the city.
Chapter Six
A S EACH STROKE of the oars took them closer to the big ship anchored out in the bay, Katerina grew excited at the thought of seeing her mother. When they drew up alongside, she grasped the metal steps and began to climb. Her arm was throbbing and when strange hands reached down towards her and lifted her onto the deck she winced with pain as one of them touched her arm. A well-meaning woman patted her on the head, gave her a piece of bread and a cup of water and settled her onto a bench. The ship was crammed full of women and children. Husbands and fathers were away in the army and thousands of them had died in recent months. Almost all of these women were widows.
‘Are you alone?’ enquired a woman who seemed to be in charge.
‘My mother’s here,’ Katerina replied. ‘But I don’t know where.’
‘Shall we go for a walk then, and see if we can find her?’
She took Katerina’s hand and together they walked the length and breadth of the ship. Many people were in great distress. Some were wounded, others rocked back and forth, traumatised by the events of the past twenty-four hours.
Katerina’s grip on the woman’s hand tightened.
‘Can you tell me what she looks like?’ the woman asked. ‘What was she wearing?’
‘She had on a dress like mine,’ answered Katerina with certainty. ‘When she makes a dress for herself she always makes one for me that’s the same.’
‘It’s a very pretty dress, then!’ she said smiling. Although the little girl’s dress was grubby, she could see it had once been beautiful. It was covered with embroidered daisies and edged with lace but now, rather incongruously, one of the sleeves appeared to have been made out of a different fabric.
‘But what have you done to your arm?’
‘It caught fire,’ answered Katerina.
‘Oh dear! Well, as soon as we’ve found your mother, we’ll have it looked at,’ continued the woman with a concerned voice. ‘Now, can you see her on deck? If not, I’m sure she will be inside.’
‘She’s with a baby,’ Katerina said chattily, ‘who’s only a few months old.’
It was beginning to dawn on the woman that this search might be fruitless, so she tried to distract Katerina with conversation, asking her questions about her sibling, whether it was a boy or a girl, her name and so on. After a twenty-minute search, it was becoming obvious to the woman that the mother was not going to be found. She was loath to crush the child’s cheerful spirit, but sooner or later she would have to tell her that they had run out of possibilities. Her mother was not on this boat.
‘I am sure we will find her, but for a little while we’ll have to ask someone else to look after you …’
Another rowing boat had arrived to offload its human cargo onto the ship. There was precious little space left and the woman who was helping to arrange the evacuation looked over anxiously.
‘Excuse me!’ she said to a woman who was sitting between two children, on a huge bundle that now contained everything they owned. ‘Would you mind keeping an eye on this little one for a moment?’
The mother held out her hands towards Katerina.
‘Of course, come and sit with us,’ she said kindly. ‘Move up, Maria.’
Katerina heard a slightly strange accent, but it did not make the woman too hard to understand. One of the two children snuggled closer to her mother to make space for Katerina.
‘Make yourself nice and comfy,’ said the mother. ‘I’m Kyria Eugenia and these are my daughters, Maria and Sofia.’
It was dusk. The engines began to throb and the heavy clank of the anchor being pulled up alerted everyone to the ship’s imminent departure. Katerina’s head lolled onto Maria’s shoulder and with the motion of the ship the three little girls were soon asleep. They were among the last of the two hundred thousand people evacuated from Smyrna in those terrifying few days.
By sunrise, the ship had
Chapter Six
A S EACH STROKE of the oars took them closer to the big ship anchored out in the bay, Katerina grew excited at the thought of seeing her mother. When they drew up alongside, she grasped the metal steps and began to climb. Her arm was throbbing and when strange hands reached down towards her and lifted her onto the deck she winced with pain as one of them touched her arm. A well-meaning woman patted her on the head, gave her a piece of bread and a cup of water and settled her onto a bench. The ship was crammed full of women and children. Husbands and fathers were away in the army and thousands of them had died in recent months. Almost all of these women were widows.
‘Are you alone?’ enquired a woman who seemed to be in charge.
‘My mother’s here,’ Katerina replied. ‘But I don’t know where.’
‘Shall we go for a walk then, and see if we can find her?’
She took Katerina’s hand and together they walked the length and breadth of the ship. Many people were in great distress. Some were wounded, others rocked back and forth, traumatised by the events of the past twenty-four hours.
Katerina’s grip on the woman’s hand tightened.
‘Can you tell me what she looks like?’ the woman asked. ‘What was she wearing?’
‘She had on a dress like mine,’ answered Katerina with certainty. ‘When she makes a dress for herself she always makes one for me that’s the same.’
‘It’s a very pretty dress, then!’ she said smiling. Although the little girl’s dress was grubby, she could see it had once been beautiful. It was covered with embroidered daisies and edged with lace but now, rather incongruously, one of the sleeves appeared to have been made out of a different fabric.
‘But what have you done to your arm?’
‘It caught fire,’ answered Katerina.
‘Oh dear! Well, as soon as we’ve found your mother, we’ll have it looked at,’ continued the woman with a concerned voice. ‘Now, can you see her on deck? If not, I’m sure she will be inside.’
‘She’s with a baby,’ Katerina said chattily, ‘who’s only a few months old.’
It was beginning to dawn on the woman that this search might be fruitless, so she tried to distract Katerina with conversation, asking her questions about her sibling, whether it was a boy or a girl, her name and so on. After a twenty-minute search, it was becoming obvious to the woman that the mother was not going to be found. She was loath to crush the child’s cheerful spirit, but sooner or later she would have to tell her that they had run out of possibilities. Her mother was not on this boat.
‘I am sure we will find her, but for a little while we’ll have to ask someone else to look after you …’
Another rowing boat had arrived to offload its human cargo onto the ship. There was precious little space left and the woman who was helping to arrange the evacuation looked over anxiously.
‘Excuse me!’ she said to a woman who was sitting between two children, on a huge bundle that now contained everything they owned. ‘Would you mind keeping an eye on this little one for a moment?’
The mother held out her hands towards Katerina.
‘Of course, come and sit with us,’ she said kindly. ‘Move up, Maria.’
Katerina heard a slightly strange accent, but it did not make the woman too hard to understand. One of the two children snuggled closer to her mother to make space for Katerina.
‘Make yourself nice and comfy,’ said the mother. ‘I’m Kyria Eugenia and these are my daughters, Maria and Sofia.’
It was dusk. The engines began to throb and the heavy clank of the anchor being pulled up alerted everyone to the ship’s imminent departure. Katerina’s head lolled onto Maria’s shoulder and with the motion of the ship the three little girls were soon asleep. They were among the last of the two hundred thousand people evacuated from Smyrna in those terrifying few days.
By sunrise, the ship had
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