The Angry Hills - Leon Uris [48]
“When can I see him?” That was the right thing to say.
“I’m afraid he is very busy. He is preparing an expedition for some diggings.”
She remembered that as a small child she had seen some foreign men digging around Dernica. Before the war foreigners always came to dig all over the province. There was always talk of it.
“But—but—I have traveled all the way from Dadi. It is very important.”
There was a buzz from the odd box on the desk. The woman stopped the buzz by sticking a piece of metal attached to a cord into the little hole. The door opened and two men who were not Greeks came into the room and sat down and looked at magazines.
The receptionist looked up to see Eleftheria still standing in front of the counter.
“Just what do you want to see Dr. Thackery about?”
“It is a personal matter and one of great importance—and I have come a long way.”
The woman shrugged and once again disappeared behind the double doors. She returned. “Follow me, please,” she said. The woman marched briskly down the long carpeted hallway past several doors with little brass name plates on them, turned sharply, and opened one and motioned Eleftheria in. She closed the door behind the girl.
The room was in semi-darkness. The long drapes were drawn. The room was stiff and paneled and Victorian. The only light was a small desk lamp. A man sat behind the desk. He looked gaunt and was pasty in complexion. His hair was thinning and his face was bony. He stared at Eleftheria coldly.
“You wish to see me?” his voice said in a monotone.
“You are Dr. Harry Thackery?”
“That is correct.”
She bit her nails and thought very hard to relay Jay’s exact words.
“A very good friend of mine,” she started, trembling, “stays in the house of my cousin. He wishes to come to Athens. He told me that a mutual friend said to come to see you.”
“Sit down, girl.”
She edged into a stiff mahogany chair in front of his desk and now she could fully see this zombie-like man.
“Where does this friend of yours stay?”
“He stays in Kaloghriani.”
“Kaloghriani?”
“Yes. It is a village that is very remote. It is in the province of Larissa.”
The man opened his thin lips. “Tell me about this friend of yours.”
“He is a British soldier. One from New Zealand.”
Thackery’s face remained frigid. “You are talking to the wrong person, young lady. If your friend is a British soldier it would be against the law to bring him to Athens. America is not at war with Germany, and I am an American.”
“But my friend says...”
“I’m sorry. I can be of no help to you. I would advise you to leave Athens. This sort of thing can get you into a great deal of trouble.”
Eleftheria arose, puzzled. She started to walk toward the door then turned, her eyes beginning to well with tears. “But—your mutual friend—a man from Scotland...
Silence.
Eleftheria felt her flesh crawl under the steady stare from the weird-looking man who sat half-shadowed behind the desk.
“Why does your friend wish to come to Athens?”
She felt a funny dryness in her mouth as she opened her lips to speak. “He told me to tell you he has seventeen excellent reasons why he wishes to come here.”
Thackery rose from his chair. “Remain here. I shall return in a moment.”
He was not tall and he was not short but his thinness made him appear tall. Eleftheria felt heady and confused and she wanted very badly to get on the train and return to her village and have no more to do with these strange people. She was sorry she had ever come to Athens.
Dr. Harry Thackery stepped across the hall to another office. A man named Thanassis sat with earphones on his head. He stood up when he saw Thackery.
“You heard her,” Thackery snapped. “What do you think?”
“It is Morrison, all right,” Thanassis answered.
“Thank God he’s still alive. I’ve all but given up hope.”
“We need that information desperately,” Thanassis said. “What about that girl in there?’
“Are our traveling companions outside?” Thackery asked, referring to the Gestapo who now kept constant watch on his movements.
“They’re there, as usual.”
“Better order a car. We