Page 28 of Old Girls Go Greek
‘Marvellous,’ Susan said.
‘How’s your blister?’ I asked.
Susan smiled happily. ‘Oh, fine. Will asked how I was getting on and he had a lovely first aid kit, some special plasters and some antiseptic spray, and it seems to be healing up really well. But he says I need to be careful; at my age I don’t heal so quickly.’
‘Old age doesn’t come easily,’ Dennis said mournfully. ‘The things we took for granted when we were young are different now. I’ve heard it said…’
He started on a long monologue about his ankle injury, his cholesterol levels and blood pressure and how his wife suffered from migraines, until I realised it wasn’t just me; no one was actually listening any more.
June had pulled out some work from her knitting bag and her nimble fingers started moving. It looked like she was making a huge, stripeyDoctor Whoscarf.
‘So the ancient ruins tomorrow,’ June said when Dennis stopped to draw breath. ‘I’m looking forward to that. I hear there is a lovely auditorium there that is very scenic. I hope there are some decent loos. That’s always my first concern.’
‘Ruins are hard to paint unless one gets the perspective right,’ Dennis said.
‘I’ll sit next to you and copy you,’ June said sweetly.
Effie came over to join us, flopping down onto a sun lounger.
‘What are you knitting, June?’
‘I was going to knit a scarf, but then it sort of got away from me so instead it’s going to be a jumper for my husband to wear in the garden. I found lots of oddments when I was having a clear out in the garage, and Nigel is colourblind anyway so he won’t even notice. So what have you been up to? I don’t think we’ve seen much of you four. Jillian wasn’t at all pleased.’
‘We’ve been having a really lovely day,’ Effie said, ‘and we haven’t done anything earthshattering, we’ve just been relaxing and enjoying ourselves and we’ve had fun and some laughs, haven’t we, Meg?’
‘Speak for yourself,’ Dennis said, snorting down his nose. ‘I’m quite worn out with it. Art can be exhausting when one is fully committed. You don’t see Damian Hirst doing Iron Man challenges in his spare time, do you? Or hear about Picasso running marathons.’
‘Perhaps he did it secretly? Away from the paparazzi?’ I suggested.
‘And I’m sure I read somewhere that John Constable used to like riding his bike,’ Effie added thoughtfully. ‘I like to think of him whizzing through that stream in the Haywain with his feet in the air.’
‘Oh, I used to do that when I was little,’ Susan said, ‘and my brothers made a go-cart out of an old pram. Such fun we used to have.’
Dennis threw her an incredulous look and went back to his art folder.
‘But Dennis is right,’ I said, hoping to cheer him up. ‘We must focus more on the painting part of this holiday, and perhaps a bit less on the other bits.’
‘Absolutely,’ Effie said, ‘and we will start tomorrow. Meanwhile, are we eating this evening?’
‘Jillian mentioned a place further up this road, where apparently they do great vegetarian food,’ June said.
‘That sounds great,’ I said.
At that moment, Beryl, dressed in pink linen dungarees and a yellow frilly blouse underneath, appeared on the roof terrace with Anita.
‘Did I hear you say vegetarian?’ she said. ‘I love vegetarian food. It always makes me feel very smug.’
‘Jillian has booked us a table at six thirty, before the rush,’ Susan said.
‘I haven’t seen any rush,’ Dennis said, ‘just a lot of waiters hanging about, looking at girls.’
‘I expect later on it gets really busy,’ I said. ‘The Greeks like to eat later than we do, don’t they?’
‘Well, I don’t think that’s healthy,’ Dennis said firmly. ‘Sally says if I go to bed on a full stomach I’m a nightmare. Tossing about and fidgeting for hours. Quite often she goes to sleep in the spare room.’
‘Can’t blame her for that,’ Beryl said.
‘It’s six fifteen. Where is Jillian anyway?’ June asked, finishing one row of her knitting and bunching it up ready to start another. ‘I’m going to change colour on this. I have a lovely purple all ready which will look nice next to this turquoise. I don’t want to leave it halfway through.’
