Red Riding Hood

"When you are walking on the hills, be careful of the wild goats," Spiro warned us. "They may confront you if you intrude on their little bit of territory. Don't back down. If you do, the goat will take this as a sign of weakness. It will charge at you and try to knock you over. The best thing to do is to stare it out. Eventually the goat will decide it has something else to do. But you must be patient and wait until it has moved away some distance before you proceed."

*

The next morning, we set about getting our orientation. Spiro had given us a map of the island and we soon found out there was no shortage of hiking trails, but only three beaches. There was a small beach next to the pier and it was possible to go swimming there, but the fishing boats came and went and there were occasional whiffs of marine diesel in the air. A couple of miles further eastwards along the coast, reachable on foot or by the minibus service, there was a sandy beach with a small cafe. The only other beach was a mile or so beyond Nissos, at the far eastern end of the island and reachable only by a path over the hills or by boat.

After a pleasant stroll around Kalumnitissos and a cup of coffee at a taverna, we caught the midday bus to the beach with the cafe. Situated well away from both of the island's villages, this is another "nudism friendly" beach and we gathered from the bus driver that it was known locally as "Yaya's Place", as the cafe was run by an old hippy woman, known simply as "Yaya", which is Greek for grandma. From the number of plastic bags in evidence, most of the dozen or so bus passengers seemed to have spent the morning shopping for groceries. Some were clearly locals heading back to Nissos and the others seemed to be mostly German tourists, judging from the chat that I could hear.

The Germans are tolerated by the Greeks, but not well liked. Apart from the enduring memories of the German wartime occupation and atrocities in the 1940s, many Greeks point the finger of blame at the Germans for the economic woes that Greece has had to endure in recent years. Personally, I think modern Germany has become a multi-cultural or "rainbow" nation and is very different from the country that my forebears fought against in two world wars. I have many German friends and business acquaintances and I enjoy the opportunity to speak German with them. However Susie had warned me not to get into any conversations in German during our holiday. She didn't mind me talking to anyone in English, but she didn't want any Greeks listening in and thinking that we might be German.

Yaya's Place is absolutely beautiful. The road descends from atop the rocky cliffs into a small valley nestling below steep hills before it ascends again to disappear over the hill towards Nissos. You get off the minibus in the middle of the little valley and make your way down a well-worn dirt path, through a stand of stunted olive trees, and you come to a little stone cottage in a lush and colourful garden set with tables, chairs, hammocks and awnings for shade. From the garden, with its pot plants, flowers, shrubs and bushes, you gaze directly onto a wide stretch of absolutely pristine sandy beach, about two hundred metres long and sheltered by cliffs on either side.

As we made our way past the cafe and onto the beach, Susie couldn't stop grinning. "This is really amazing, Jimmy," she said. "It looks like paradise!"

"Yes, you could be right," I said, "but look at the size of that snake."

Coming up the beach towards us, shaking off the seawater clinging to his naked torso, was a tall, slim, dark-haired, bearded man, probably in his early thirties. Hanging between his legs was what looked like a baby's arm.

"Oh my God!" murmured Susie. "I don't believe it!" She turned towards me. "I think I need a drink after seeing that. How about lunch before we hit the beach?"

*

We found ourselves a small table and a couple of chairs in the garden and Yaya brought us some home-made spinach pies and a couple of cold beers. She turned out to be a delightful older lady, possibly in her late sixties and very well preserved. Her black hair had streaks of grey, which gave her an air of dignity and maturity that complimented a warm and friendly countenance. She explained that she had inherited the small cottage from her grandmother, who it seems was the original Yaya.

For many years, visitors had been camping at the beach during the summer months, pitching their tents on the area at the edge of the beach that had formerly been a field and was part of Yaya's property. Instead of trying to evict these rough campers from her land, Yaya levied a small charge and made some money by running her cafe.

After lunch we walked along the beach and found a nice spot to place our beach towels. We spent the afternoon snoozing and reading in the warm sunshine, with an occasional dip in the sea. I counted around a dozen other folk scattered along the beach, all of us nude, but there was no sign of the guy with the big cock and I assumed he was in one of the tents at the back of the beach.

There is a path from Yaya's Place to Kalumnitissos, but it's very narrow in places and the first section ascends steeply up the side of the rocks from the beach to the headland. Although Susie no longer needed the old walking stick to get about, there was no way she could have attempted that path. Instead, we caught the late afternoon minibus.

*

The next morning Susie went back to Yaya's Place on the minibus and I packed some lunch and a couple of bottles of water in my rucksack, grabbed my compass, binoculars and the map and set off on foot for Nissos. I took the old walking stick along with me and it came in very handy on some of the steeper stretches of the hill paths.

I was in no hurry and I expected it would take me around six hours to reach Nissos on the paths that I had chosen, allowing for a short lunch break. The views were impressive and apart from one brief staring contest I was able to get past the goats without any problems.

It was a warm day and I reckoned I had earned a cold beer by the time I got to Nissos. I had half an hour to spare before the late afternoon minibus was due to depart from Nissos to Kalumnitissos, so I climbed the short flight of steps to the wooden deck of the little taverna by the harbour and took a seat at a small table with a view of the bay. There was no one else in sight.

"Kalispera!"

The waitress who emerged from the doorway to greet me looked typically Greek, with shoulder length black hair, an olive complexion and high cheekbones defining an attractive face. I would have guessed her to be in her mid thirties. Her simple white smock top and black skirt hinted at an enviable mix of youth and maturity, with a modest waistline and some nice curves.

"Kalispera! Good afternoon!" I replied. "Do you speak English?"

"Yes, of course. What would you like?"

"A cold beer would be good."

She hastened away to fetch my beer and came back with an ice cold glass straight out of the freezer and a cold bottle of Mythos.

She asked me if I had walked to Nissos and I explained how I had followed the various footpaths over the hills from Kalumnitissos. As we chatted, she talked about the paths on the island and made some recommendations about which routes were best. Some paths were in better condition than others and I was grateful for her advice. I explained that my wife had twisted her ankle and that I would meet up with her when the bus stopped at Yaya's on the way back to Kalumnitissos.

*

The next morning Susie and I caught the morning minibus from Kalumnitissos. She got off at Yaya's Place while I stayed on to Nissos, as I planned to walk a couple of routes in that part of the island. I reckoned I could do a hill walk in the morning, have a short lunch break at the taverna and then take the path to the remote beach in the afternoon. If it was a nice beach and easily accessible I could help Susie get there the next day.

It was a lovely day out and I had a nice chat at lunchtime with Eleni, the waitress at the taverna in Nissos. Her English was absolutely faultless.

"This is my parents' taverna and I help them during the summer," she explained. "I'm actually a commercial lawyer and my practice is in Athens, where I normally live. I have a lighter caseload in the summer months and so I work from here. If I need to have a confidential discussion with a client, I can catch the ferry to Athos, stay overnight at the Hotel Hermes, use their teleconferencing suite and be back here within 24 hours."

We compared notes about how high speed broadband had made it possible to do business from remote islands, before she left me to finish my Greek salad. To my great surprise, when she brought me the bill she asked if I would be interested in doing some work for her.

"Here, in the taverna?" I asked.

"I don't mean serving table or washing dishes," she laughed. "You told me you're a technical translator from German to English. It seems the fates have sent you to me, because right now I could use your help."

Eleni explained that she had some German technical drawings and texts that were evidence in a copyright case and she needed a translation into English as soon as possible. Her usual agency connections hadn't been able to find anyone to do the work at short notice, so I seemed like a godsend to her. However, as I pointed out to her, there was one major snag. I was on holiday and wanted to do some walking, explore the island and relax with my wife. Besides, I had done an assignment the previous week and wasn't inclined to do another one.

Eleni eventually wore me down. It helped that she was a very pleasant and attractive looking woman, but the deal we reached was a good one for both parties. I would get my fee plus free lunch at her parents' taverna in return for half a day's work every day for the next four days, which is how long we reckoned it would take. I could work in the morning and walk in the afternoon, or vice versa, but I would be working at the taverna in Nissos, as the technical documents were large files and I would have to access them on Eleni's computer.

I made it clear that my acceptance of the assignment would be subject to Susie's approval, which I expected to confirm once Susie had the chance to visit Nissos the next day.

*

Susie seemed tired after her day on the beach when she joined me on the minibus later that afternoon at Yaya's Place. After we got back to Iliovasilema she went for a shower and then curled up on the bed for a snooze before dinner. I was slightly disappointed that she wasn't up for making love, but I reckoned maybe she was suffering from mild heatstroke.

Over dinner I told her about Eleni's offer and she was initially quite irritated. She was somewhat mollified that I hadn't accepted straight away and she agreed that it would be nice to see Nissos and check out the remote beach, which I had reconnoitred after lunch that day.

*

Susie and I caught the minibus to Nissos the next morning and stopped off at the taverna to say hello. Eleni was as charming as ever, but Susie wasn't buying it for some reason. However she agreed to think things over while we walked to the beach and by lunchtime she had reached a decision.

"If you don't mind me spending time at Yaya's Place, then go ahead and do the assignment. Just don't expect me to come to Nissos with you every day when there's a lovely beach at Yaya's Place with a bus service." I knew her ankle was still sore, so it seemed fair enough to me.

It was mid afternoon by the time we got back to the taverna and Eleni was clearly relieved that Susie had relented. She insisted that our late lunch was on the house and the three of us shared a nice bottle of cold white wine and chatted while Susie and I waited for the minibus. Susie spoke with pride about our two lovely daughters and Eleni revealed that she had two teenage sons, but she was divorced and the two boys were staying with their dad in Athens for a few weeks before coming to Nissos for the summer.

That evening Susie's mood had changed. I had no idea what had happened, but she almost fucked my brains out when we got back to Iliovasilema and I was still weak in the knees when we sat down to enjoy our dinner while the sun sank into the sea.

*

I enjoyed working with Eleni the next couple of days and her parents were very welcoming. Eleni had an impressive IT set-up, with a state-of-the art laptop and absolutely top class software. Manipulating the file content was less of a problem than I had anticipated, but the tricky aspect of the assignment was identifying and marking up the potential breaches of copyright, with translations to support the legal texts that Eleni showed me. I preferred working on the assignment in the morning and walking in the afternoon, which seemed to suit everyone.

Unfortunately, Susie's mood seemed to have changed again. Both days she was very tired and just wanted to snooze when she got back from Yaya's. I discovered why the next evening.

*

We were sitting at dinner on the terrace when a middle-aged couple came into the restaurant. The woman seemed to know Susie and nodded to her before the couple took their seats at the table immediately behind me. Susie studiously ignored them and continued to engage me in conversation. The couple were speaking German and I could clearly hear what they were saying.

"Hast Du gesehen?" the woman asked the man. "Es ist Rotkaeppchen."

(Did you see? It's Red Riding Hood.)

"Meinst Du die Frau mit dem roten Kopftuch?" replied the man. "Ich dachte sie ist mit Wolfgang zusammen."

(Do you mean the woman with the red head scarf? I thought she was with Wolfgang.)

"Ja und nein. Bei Yaya's macht sie eine Nummer mit Wolfgang. Ihr Mann ist tagsueber woanders und hat keine Ahnung. Die Rettung kaemme sowieso zu spaet. Wolfi hat Rotkaeppchen schon total fertig gebumst."

(Yes and no. At Yaya's she's doing it with Wolfgang. Her husband is elsewhere during the day and hasn't a clue. Anyway, it's too late to save her. Wolfi's already completely fucked Red Riding Hood.)

The two of them had a good chuckle before discussing what they would order for dinner.

It was the complete shock of what they had just said that allowed me to continue to chat with Susie while my mind tried in vain to process and rationalise the information it had just received. I vaguely remember continuing to eat what had been a delicious fried fish, but I tasted absolutely nothing.

After a while I excused myself and went to the toilet. I wasn't ill, but it gave me a chance to try and think about what I had overheard. I quickly decided not to ask Susie about what might be happening at Yaya's Place. For all I knew it might just be malicious gossip, but I knew I would have to find out one way or the other. No way did I want her to think that I didn't trust her and no way did I want to tip her off if she was stepping out on me.

That evening Susie was soon asleep. Whether it was from too much sun or from being completely fucked by a big dick on the beach I wasn't sure. I had to assume she was innocent until proven otherwise and with that thought in mind I finally fell into a restless sleep.

*

The next day we got the morning minibus as usual. I asked Susie if she wanted to come to Nissos with me, but she said she preferred Yaya's. At Nissos I got straight to work on Eleni's laptop in the big backroom of the taverna. I'm sure Eleni could tell that I was not quite my usual self, but she didn't remark on it. I had a quick lunch and hopped on the midday bus instead of the late afternoon bus. I was one of the few passengers and no one else got off at Yaya's. A couple of women were waiting to get on there and I stood by the roadside until the bus disappeared from view.

Instead of walking through the olive grove to the cafe I followed the road back to where it met the old path down to the east side of the beach where the tents were pitched. I expected there would be a vantage point from which I could look down on the tents and the beach. Sure enough, although the old path was largely overgrown, it was still possible to make my way down it to a bend with a clear view.

I took out my binoculars and leaned against a young cedar tree to steady myself, as my hands were trembling slightly. I was hoping that I would see Susie sunning herself all alone on the beach, but after spending some time scanning up and down the beach I didn't spot her there. Maybe she was at the cafe. I could see right into it, but she wasn't there either. I was reluctant to use my binoculars to peer into the tents of strangers, but there didn't seem to be anyone in amongst the tents anyway.

Just as I was thinking maybe it was all just a fairytale, I caught a splash of red colour out of the corner of my eye. I focused in on one of the larger tents situated off to the side of the others, almost under the hillside. Framed in the opening of the tent, Susie was sitting astride her horseman, her red headscarf bobbing up and down as she bounced up and down on his dick.

I heaved my guts up leaning against the tree.

When I had no more to throw up and had stopped shaking I got out my camera and took a few shots just in case I needed some evidence for later use.

Retracing my steps, I walked back up the path to the road and set off for Kalumnitissos. There was no way I was going to confront her 'in flagrante delicto'. I needed time to decide how to handle this. Red Riding Hood was in trouble, but she had already been gobbled up by the wolf, so I might well be too late to save her. One thing was certain. I would take action and there would be consequences, but it would be at a time and place of my choosing.

Susie came back on the bus later that afternoon and I told her I had walked back overland after lunch at Nissos. Needless to say, there wasn't much chat over dinner and I didn't object when she went to bed early, leaving me to sit on the terrace with a glass of brandy while I quietly nursed my wrath and started to plan.

*

The next morning I got a surprise at the taverna in Nissos.

I had been miserable all morning.

"Look, it's not your fault I'm in a bad mood." I told Eleni, after nearly snapping her head off when she asked if I would like a coffee. "I got some very bad news and I have to sort out a serious problem."

Eleni hesitated for a moment. "So you heard about your wife and the German guy?"

"How the hell did you know about that?"

"The bus driver told my father and he told my mother and she told me."

"How did the bus driver find out?"

"The fishermen's bar in Kalumnitissos," she replied. "It's one of the biggest centres of gossip on the island. The German guy, Wolfgang, spends his evenings there and he likes to boast about his conquests. Your wife thinks she is being discreet, but everyone on the island knows what she's been up to. Wolfgang's been telling everyone she squealed like a stuck pig the first time he fucked her in his tent. In fact the guys in the bar will have heard about every single intimate detail, because Wolfgang spends a lot of time there. He's usually one of the last to leave."

"So everyone knew he was doing Susie except me?"

"They thought maybe you were turning a blind eye to what she was up to. Sorry."

"Thanks for the sympathy, but I think I can do without it. I just never thought she would stray."

"Maybe she had a moment of weakness and gave way to temptation. Wolfgang comes here every summer to camp at Yaya's place and he makes a play for any woman that comes near him. The locals have nicknamed him the Centaur - part man, part horse. You know why."

"So he spends his time waving his cock at women?"

"Yes, more or less. His relationships never last very long. As far as the women are concerned, it's just a holiday romance. They will usually pay for his keep and in exchange they get plenty of sex for a week or two."