The Green Lady Read Online Free PDF Page A

phones.’
    Mavros looked at the fat envelope. ‘I’ll give you a receipt.’
    â€˜No,’ she said. ‘I can have nothing that connects me to you – for your own safety. Paschos is like a man possessed over this.’ She gave a weak smile as she got to her feet. ‘Besides, I’ve met your mother at several functions. I trust you. Please give me ten minutes to clear the area. I managed to talk my driver into leaving me alone for half-an-hour, but he’ll be getting hot under the collar now.’
    Clear the area, Mavros thought, as he watched her walk away, her shoulders down as if she were carrying a terrible burden. Someone’s been reading too much John le Carré. Then again, people
were
devious. He’d never known a client who’d told him the whole story on first meeting.

THREE
    L ady, in your grieving accept these humble offerings of flowers, corn and fruit. Your daughter is gone beneath the earth, but she will return, she must return, the ancient tale has it so. After passing the winter months in Hades’ echoing halls, she will find the light of Helios again and you will be reunited.
    Goddess, cast your green shroud over the barren soil. Give life to the seeds that lie hidden, waiting for spring’s bounty of rain and warmth. Although your pain is great, soon it will be assuaged. We await the maiden’s return with restraint, eating humble food and drinking only spring water. But we will celebrate with you when she attains the surface of the earth again.
    Great Mother of Fertility, we ask your forbearance. The world is changing and the seasons are no longer as they were. Winters have been harder, the snow on the surrounding peaks and the rain rushing down the watercourses in torrents, taking the precious soil to the wave-crested sea. The summers have become more arduous, the heat killing older mortals and poisoning the canopy of heaven. We pray that your daughter’s return will not be unduly delayed.
    Be assured, Goddess, that we will perform the necessary sacrifice if the earth’s destroyers do not heed our warnings. We are few, but we are united in our faith in your goodness. Already one of our number has been taken and we do not expect to see him again. The enemy is strong and merciless. But so were you in the ancient tale, leaving people to starve and fields to wither. We will maintain our devotion to you until the last, firm in our belief that you will save the land, if only for future generations.
    Green Lady, we pour good wine on your altar and raise our hands to praise you. Be assured, our fellow believer will not remain unavenged for long. This is a war that must be won, in your name and in those of our children. As the sun sets over the western mountains, casting its last light on the waters of the gulf, we fall to our knees and rub the precious soil over our bodies and into our hair. We place these figurines, replete with your power, in our dwelling places.
    For though the maiden is deep in the underworld, starving and broken by the Death God’s dark will, she will rise again. Hail, Potnia, most ancient and revered of immortals. We are your servants now and forever.
    When Mavros got back to the flat, he found the Fat Man shouting in front of the TV again.
    â€˜Bastard exploiters of the people, thieving desecrators of our history!’
    â€˜What now?’
    Yiorgos looked round and then pointed at the screen. ‘Look at those poxy mascots. They’re a parody of our history, a multinational marketing device.’
    Mavros nodded without enthusiasm. Athena and Phevos were stylized children with heads as thin as their necks and oversized feet. They had been based on small terracotta sculptures of the goddess Athena and the sun god Apollo, dolls most likely, dated to the seventh century BC. To Mavros, they had always seemed mysterious, far from the realistic forms of the classical period and closer to the prehistoric past. Now they