The Olive Tree Read Online Free PDF Page A

incredibly, unbearably thirsty. And I feel dizzy. The world spins slightly and I fall back into the room and onto the mattress and close my eyes.
    Perhaps I have malaria. Perhaps that mosquito has done for me and I am in the last hours of my life.
    Whatever I have, I need water and my mother.

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Two
    ‘Dehydration. That is all. Mix this sachet with water for salts now and then give him another before bed. And drink many fluids, young man.’
    ‘Are you sure it’s not malaria, doctor?’ Alex eyed the diminutive Cypriot suspiciously. ‘You can tell me, you know, I can deal with it.’
    ‘Of course it isn’t, Alex,’ snapped Helena. She turned to the doctor and watched as he closed his medical bag. ‘Thank you for coming so quickly, and I’m sorry to
have bothered you.’ She ushered him out of the bedroom and led him down the stairs to the kitchen. ‘He seemed delirious. I was frightened.’
    ‘Of course, it is natural, and it is no problem. I treated Colonel McCladden for many years. His death . . . so sad.’ He shrugged and handed Helena his card. ‘In case you need
me again. In future, it is better for you to visit the surgery. I’m afraid I must charge you a call-out fee for today.’
    ‘Oh dear, I doubt I have enough cash on me. I was going to go up to the bank in the village today.’ Helena replied, embarrassed.
    ‘No matter. The surgery is just a few doors down from there. Drop the payment off with my receptionist later.’
    ‘Thank you, doctor, I will.’
    He stepped through the front door, and Helena followed him. Then he turned back to look up at the house. ‘Pandora,’ he mused. ‘You must have heard of the myth?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Such a wonderful house, but like the box in the legend after which it is named, it has been closed up for many years. Are you the one to open it, I wonder?’ He smiled at her
quizzically, showing a set of white, even teeth.
    ‘Hopefully not so that all the evils of the world can pour out,’ Helena said with a wry smile. ‘Actually, this is my house now. Angus was my godfather. He left it to
me.’
    ‘I see. And will you love it as he did?’
    ‘Oh, I do already. I came here to stay as a teenager and I’ve never forgotten it.’
    ‘Then you will know that this is the oldest house in these parts. Some say there was already a dwelling here thousands of years ago. That Aphrodite and Adonis once came to taste the wine
and spent the night here. There are many rumours in the village . . .’
    ‘About the house?’
    ‘Yes.’ He met her gaze steadily. ‘You remind me very much of another lady I once met here at Pandora, many years ago.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘She was visiting Colonel McCladden, and I was called to treat her. She was beautiful, like you,’ he said with a smile. ‘Now, make sure the boy drinks plenty of fluids.
Adio
, Madame.’
    ‘I will. Goodbye, and thank you.’
    Helena watched him drive off in a cloud of chalk dust. Looking up at Pandora, despite the searing heat, a shiver ran up her spine and the strange feeling of dread suffused her once more. She
forced herself to concentrate on the list of jobs in her head. The first was that she needed to check on the state of the swimming pool, so she walked briskly around the house and across the
terrace, noting that it could do with some colourful plants in the currently empty, mouldering stone urns to enhance it, and adding that task to her mental list. The pool, which lay beneath the
terrace down a crumbling set of steps, looked to be in surprisingly good condition, but would obviously need years’ worth of grime cleaned from it before it was usable.
    As Helena turned to walk back to the house, she glanced up, noticing how different Pandora looked from this viewpoint. The initial approach to the main entrance gave a somewhat austere
impression and was unadorned, but the front of it was positively picturesque. As well as being softened by the long terrace with its pergola, each bedroom window