The Girl Under the Olive Tree Read Online Free PDF

change was coming in Europe, unwelcome change that might one day affect their own country too.
    Evadne flew out to Athens to join Walter after a tearful farewell dinner where she made Papa promise that Penny and Diane would come to visit as soon as she and Walter were settled.
    ‘Knowing they’re coming will make me feel less cut off, ’ she pleaded, her big blue eyes directed imploringly at her father.
    As the weeks went by, Effy’s letters with colourful stamps arrived in the post with tales of diplomatic parties among palm trees and olive groves. There were snaps of them both reclining under huge sunshades, sipping exotic cocktails, riding on mules up into the hills outside Athens for picnics in the forests, on trips to the mountains and the sea. Effy’s new villa, the Villa Artemisa, looked as if it were straight out of a Hollywood film set. But no invite was extended, no dates offered. Had she forgotten her promise?
    Mother’s plans for Penny’s debutante season were well underway. ‘If there’s going to be a war, I want you out before the balloon goes up, so I hope Neville Chamberlain does something to stop that little Hitler man from spoiling our plans.’
    Penny saw a lot of Diane; a link to her much-missed sister. Diane’s new beau was joining the Royal Navy. Zan was on manoeuvres somewhere in Devon. Penny’s summer meant being dragged round all the places Society attended until it was time to decamp to Scotland for the shooting season.
    Just when she’d given up hope of ever getting to Athens a letter came that changed everything.
    Penny will love to be out here to see all Athens has on offer in case, come next season, well, there could be war. Diane is coming for a few weeks so they can travel together and I promise to look after her. Please, Mummy, I could do with a bit of cheering up as I’m a bit off colour, awfully sick, I’m afraid, but the doctor here assures me by December I’ll feel a lot better. Yes, a honeymoon baby is on the way! Don’t worry, I’ll be sent home to have it in England. Isn’t it wonderful news?
     
    The announcement sent Mother into a flurry of telephone calls and this invitation slipped smoothly into ‘We’ve decided to finish Penelope in Athens. She’s going to be supervised by Evadne, of course. Did I tell you they’re expecting a happy event in December? Penelope will be such a great comfort to her sister . . .’ It was as if the whole idea was her mother’s alone. There followed a rush of dressmaking appointments to kit out Penny with a respectable tropical wardrobe of cotton lawn dresses, linens and sandals, and a suite of smart leather suitcases.
    Evadne had also sent a list of must-brings, including a large jar of liquorice bonbons, for which she now had a craving.
    They were to leave at the end of July before her parents departed for Scotland, and would be taking the Orient Express from Paris. Penny felt almost breathless with anticipation. At last, she felt, her life was finally beginning. She borrowed everything she could find to read about Athens and its history as well as asking Papa to help her with her rusty Greek. She wanted to be prepared for all eventualities – a new and interesting social life with Effy and Walter’s friends, the chance to study archaeology or at least visit the famous sights, and maybe even the chance of bumping into Bruce Jardine again so for once she took a keen interest in her packing.
    The journey from London was a blur of porters, steaming engines, the bustle of passengers and luggage. At the Gare de l’Est in Paris Penny looked up with awe at the deep-blue sleeping carriages, embossed with gold lettering. She felt like a film star, her heart leaping with excitement. Diane was still moping about leaving her new boyfriend, hoping his ship would anchor in Greece and they could meet.
    Then they gazed out over the battlefields of the Great War. She caught a glimpse of the cathedral at Rheims, and eventually the jagged