The Other Side of Midnight

"What's the meltemi?" Larry asked.

"It's a terrible wind that blows down from the north. I suppose it is like your hurricane. When it comes, everyone stays indoors. In Athens, even ocean liners are forbidden to leave the harbor."

"I'm glad we missed it," Larry said.

When Larry returned to the bungalow, he suggested to Catherine that they go down to the village for dinner. They took the steep, rocky footpath that led down the slope to the edge of the village. Ioannina consisted of a main street, King George Avenue, with two or three smaller streets on both sides of it. Off of those streets, a warren of tiny dirt roads radiated out to homes and apartments. The buildings were old and weatherbeaten, made of stone carried down by cart from the mountains.

The middle of King George Avenue was sectioned off by ropes, so that cars drove on the left side of the street and pedestrians were free to walk on the right side.

"They should try that on Pennsylvania Avenue," Catherine said.

At the town square was a charming little park with a high tower with a large, lighted clock in it. A street lined with huge Platanus trees ran down to the lake. It appeared to Catherine that all the stre

ets in the village led to the water. It seemed to her that there was something frightening about the lake. It had a strange, brooding quality. All along the shores grew clumps of tall reeds that reached out like greedy fingers, as though waiting for someone.

Catherine and Larry walked down the colorful little shopping center, with shops crowded together on each side. There was a jewelry store and next to it a bakery shop, an open air butcher shop, a tavern, a shoe store. Children stood outside a barber shop, silently watching a customer getting shaved. Catherine thought they were the most beautiful children she had ever seen.

In the past, Catherine had talked to Larry about having a baby, but he had always dismissed the idea, saying that he was not ready to settle down. Now, however, he might feel differently. Catherine glanced at him as he walked at her side, taller than the other men, looking like a Greek god, and she resolved that she would discuss it with him before they left. After all, it was their honeymoon.

They passed a movie theater, the Palladian. Two very old American pictures were playing. They stopped to look at the display posters.

"We're in luck," Catherine joked. "South of Panama with Roger Pryor and Virginia Vale, and Mr. D.A. in The Carter Case."

"Never even heard of them," Larry snorted. "This theater must be older than it looks."

They ate mousaka in the square, seated outdoors under an unbelievable full moon and then went back to the hotel and made love. It had been a perfect day.

In the morning Catherine and Larry drove around the lovely countryside, exploring the narrow road that wound along the lake, running along the rocky coast for a few miles, then drunkenly weaving its way back up again into the hills. Stone houses were perched on the edge of the steep mountainsides. High above the shore set back in the woods they caught a glimpse of a huge whitewashed building that looked like an ancient castle.

"What's that?" Catherine asked.

"I have no idea," Larry said.

"Let's find out."

"All right."

Larry swung the car onto the dirt track that led to the building, through a meadow, past grazing goats and a shepherd who stared at them as they drove by. They pulled up in front of the deserted entrance to the building. Up close it looked like an old ruined fortress.

"It must be a leftover ogre's castle," Catherine said. "Probably out of the Brothers Grimm."

"Do you really want to find out?" Larry asked.

"Sure. We may be just in time to rescue a maiden in distress."

Larry gave Catherine a quick, strange look.

They got out of the car and walked up to the massive wooden door with a huge iron knocker fastened to the center. Larry hit it several times and they waited. There were no sounds except the buzz of summer insects in the meadow and the whisper of the breeze through the grass.

"I guess no one's home," Larry said.

"They're probably getting rid of bodies," Catherine whispered.

Suddenly the huge door began to creak open slowly. A nun dressed in black stood facing them.

It caught Catherine off guard. "I--I'm sorry," she said. "We didn't know what this place was. There's no sign or anything."

The nun regarded the two of them for a moment, then gestured for them to enter. They stepped through the doorway and found themselves in a large courtyard that was the center of a compound. There was a strangely still atmosphere, and Catherine suddenly realized what was missing: the sound of human voices.