Chapter 4: Moussaka and Chips

"You are cordially invited," the card slipped under Freddie's door had said. "To a celebratory dinner tonight at the Mermaid Café. Eight o'clock to whenever! Hope you can join us. Bethany and the Diggers."

Appropriate venue, Freddie thought, given that he'd dubbed Bethany 'the mermaid' when he'd first seen her. He was happy to join them. It was obvious that they had found something and that meant they'd be staying for a while yet, which wasn't at all convenient. He needed to decide what he was going to do about it.

The Mermaid Café was run by Stephanos, one of Alexander's brothers. It backed directly on to the beach, a wooden building that stood up in spite of the years of neglect that had been heaped upon it. Stephanos didn't go in for menu's much, especially before the tourists started to arrive. In any case it was easy enough to tell what was on offer tonight. A large swordfish was draped across a table immediately inside the front door. It looked as if it had thrown itself out of the water only minutes before. As far as Stephanos was concerned it was inconceivable that you would want anything else but, if you should, a quick tour of the kitchen would reveal the available options.

Bethany and the others were already there. They had already started when Freddie arrived. Danni was leaning over the bar, chatting to Stephanos in a way that seemed calculated to arouse his passions on one hand while at the same time fending him off effectively. Freddie could see Stephanos was finding it irritating. The archaeologists had grabbed a table inside It was still too cool in the evenings to eat on the beach. The television over the bar was showing the inevitable football match. It depressed Freddie. He could remember when scratchy rock and roll records were the entertainment here. He thought back to the skinny Canadian singer with the strange voice that had picked out songs on the guitar she carried everywhere. Was it really more than thirty years ago? He remembered the fights that had started with Carey when some of the lads had tried to drown her out. And he remembered being puzzled, when the album came out, that she had set it in Crete. Freddie had never been keen on Matala but he guessed that it must have seemed more "credible"; the hippy colony had its reputation even then.

No music now, he gloomed, just football. Somehow the antics of Panathinaikos, Olympiakos and the rest didn't match up.

Two grizzled old men were sitting on the far side of the restaurant, slapping down counters in a game of backgammon. They were almost always there. Freddie guessed that they were related to Stephanos and Alexander in some way but he didn't really know how. There was one other, the guy that drove the truck from the quarry. He sat watching the game.

They were all smoking. The smell of the tobacco drifted across the room. Stacey looked shocked. Freddie didn't mind. Since he'd given up cigarettes, down-streaming others was the only tobacco fix he got and now that it had been banned in most public places it was getting harder and harder to indulge his second-hand pleasure.

Bethany's smile was welcoming. Danni, who had already put away a couple of large ouzos if Freddie was any judge, was even more encouraging. "Mr Clegg," she called, as she abandoned Stephanos in favour of Freddie, "come and sit with me."

Freddie felt his mood lift and, never one to pass up an invitation of that kind, obliged. "You all seem very happy," he said.

"And it's all down to me!" Danni exclaimed, throwing her arms around Freddie.

Freddie did nothing to discourage her but looked across at Bethany. "Well, not quite all," she said. "But the radar survey was a clincher."

Alexander's sister, Andrea, emerged from the kitchen and came to take their order. She seemed to move from the bar to the restaurant or to Stephanos's car hire office or to wherever she was needed. Tonight she was the waitress in the Mermaid Café.

Bethany went for the swordfish. Stacey wondered if there was some sort of vegetarian option before, in the face of complete non-comprehension from Andrea, opting for moussaka. The other girls asked for steak. That was a bad idea in Freddie's view. They must know there was no sign of a cow anywhere nearby, or even on the island come to that. At best it would be fresh from the freezer. At worst it would just be from the freezer. Freddie couldn't think of anything he'd rather have than the swordfish.

A jug of wine appeared from somewhere and Danni helped Freddie to a glass. He held it aloft. "Well," he said, "whatever it is that you have to celebrate, congratulations!"

"It's not clear what we have got, but we have got something," said Bethany.

"A mysterious enclosure," interjected Danni with Ouzo fuelled enthusiasm. "A mysterious Mycenaean enclosure. And I found it. I did."

Bethany looked on with slight disapproval as Danni took another triumphal slug of Ouzo. "Danni's radar survey gave us a much better picture of the site. The enclosure is well defined, certainly. The centre of it doesn't look to have been disturbed so it's not likely to be a grave circle or anything like that but there's a lot of disturbance outside the perimeter of the enclosure."

"But its definnn — definitittievly — definitely, Mice, Meece, Mycenaean!" Danni evidently considered it very much her discovery.