Katherine: Revenge is Sweet

By Kerry Christofilea

Set in 1940 Kalamata Greece 16 years old Sophia against her own free will is coerced by her mother to take up residency at the monastery to undertake her duties as a seamstress. It is here Sophia's journey begins.

Amid her new life at the monastery Sophia meets sister Katherine who appears to be a puller of strength. Surreptitiously sister Katherine is devising plans for Sophia's future. Unbeknownst to Sophia she is to be betrothed to a man in the very imminent future.

In essence Sophia's story metaphoises into the journey of her second daughter Katherine named after the aunt her father's sister the nun.
A world of love , unforgiving deceit, deep tragedy and ultimately revenge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jan 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669833611

Kerry Christofilea

Kerry Christoileas is a Melbourne based author who aspired to become a writer from a young age. She takes pleasure in living a free-spirited lifestyle including road trips and outdoor adventures. She is at her best when she is embracing mother nature with a house blend coffee in one hand and pen in the other. Born in 1961, she was raised in a strict Greek family and was the second eldest of five children. She resided in the suburb of Kensington for most of her teenage years. Though her parents had hoped for her to aspire academically, she decided to leave school indefinitely at 16 and pursue a career in hairdressing in which she became quite the success owning and managing her own salon. At 20 years old, she married the love of her life and raised three children only to come to the realisation after thirty-three years that perhaps not every marriage can evolve and survive the forever changing relationship continuum. Divorce ensued as did the opportunity to travel solo across the world, to soul search and re-create herself and finally see her first book come to fruition.

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Copyright © 2023 by Kerry Christofilea.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/31/2023

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 A Village Girl

Chapter 2 Betty The Village Girl

Chapter 3 Katherine The Nun

Chapter 4 Sophia

Chapter 5 The Boat Trip To Australia

Chapter 6 The Five Children

Chapter 7 School Camp

Chapter 8 The High School Years

Chapter 9 Reunion Night

Chapter 10 The Problem With Omar

Chapter 11 The Christmas Party

Chapter 12 Stephen And Perry

Chapter 13 Perry The Greek

Chapter 14 The Proposal

Chapter 15 The Engagement

Chapter 16 The Wedding

Chapter 17 Married Life

Chapter 18 The Next 20 Years

Chapter 19 Financial Problems

Chapter 20 End Of The Marriage

Chapter 21 Dating

Chapter 22 The Whirlwind Affair

Chapter 23 The Affair

Chapter 24 Disaster

CHAPTER 1

A Village Girl

B ETTY STARTED RUNNING down the long and endless road, falling and tripping over the potholes,loose branches and tree roots, tears running down her face. The shock of being caught was too overwhelming for her.

All she could do was run, run as fast as she could and never look back.

After running for half the day, she was exhausted. As she went further along up the dirt road, she saw a huge cobalt stone wall, which looked like a prison. As she got closer, she saw a large entrance, with a huge archway, cobblestone slabs with wooden benches on either side. The wrought-iron gate must have been 20 feet high. In her fatigued state, she just lay down on the wooden benches in deep thought. The sun was setting, the temperature dropping; she was wearing a thin cotton dress, freezing and hungry. It only took a few minutes before she fell asleep, not knowing what would become of her. Her legs were bleeding, and flies would land on her open wounds as they started to dry up. A nun made her way to the front entrance. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

My dear, are you alright? Have you been here all night? asked the nun from the convent, gently nudging her. Are you hurt badly?

There was no response from Betty, but the nun could see the scars on her back through the ripped clothes and rushed back inside to get help. Betty lost consciousness. She remembered hearing a voice, opening her eyes and finding herself lying in a warm bed. Sweet aromas surrounded her in the small grey stone room, with a fireplace crackling and warmth on her face after being out in the cold. This was comforting.

As the nun enters the room with the doctor, he examined the patient carefully, cleaned and dressed her wounds, and administered medication for pain and sleep.

Try not to scare her, the doctor said. She’s in shock. I’ll come back in a few days, keep cleaning and dressing her wounds to prevent any infection. Who knows what she’s been through?

When they left the room, Betty opened her eyes in confusion, not sure what was happening. Flashbacks came and went in seconds. She just wanted to die at this point in her life.

Despite the nun’s best efforts, there was no change in her condition. The nuns felt helpless because she still wouldn’t speak. Someone contacted the doctor again. It has been a week now. What should we do? asked the nuns.

Just monitor her and let her rest, the doctor said. Her wounds have healed, but the trauma she’s enduring will take a lot longer. In time, she will come around, just pray for her and keep her safe.

CHAPTER 2

Betty The Village Girl

B EFORE BETTY RAN away, she lived with her family. Her father was a very strict, traditional Greek man, very tall thin build, hardly ever smiled. He walked with a limp because of a lot of years in the farm fields, climbing mountains to keep watch on his goat’s. His arthritis had set in, he was suffering from a lot of pain. He was a man of strong family values. His word was law, and no one ever challenged him.

Betty was the youngest daughter of nine siblings. All of them worked in the fields until they were old enough to go to school or get married. Unfortunately for Betty, her role was quite different: She was the last daughter to remain in the house to take care of her ageing parents until they died. This entitled her to inherit the family home and farmland.

Betty had secretly been seeing a handsome local boy named Costa. Despite being forbidden to see each other, they exchanged letters with close friends who kept their secret and swore never to tell, feeling sorry for their fate in life. The young lover’s flirtatious behaviour suggested the two liked each other. Any chance they had to wink or smile at each other came from their heart and was obvious to all, except their parents. Everyone in town knew but would never let it slip past their lips. They loved the young ones and wanted to protect them. Betty’s father was respected in the community. His family farmed land for many generations. The town relied on this for goat’s meat and milk, cheeses, and the sheep’s wool.

The Costas family went to ask for Betty’s hand in marriage as they had come of age. Unbeknown to Betty, her father had already offered one of his other daughters instead. Betty was devastated at the news, and her sister was not happy either as she had her heart set on marrying another, the boy’s father agreed to this arrangement as Betty’s family was wealthy, and her father offered a large dowry. As tradition went, when coupling a daughter to a son, an offering of land and some goats, also some gold jewellery were offered. The boy tried to protest, but this fell on deaf ears. He was afraid to insult his father with this behaviour, therefore accepted with respect. Betty’s father made it quite clear his last daughter will not marry until they died.

Betty kept receiving messages from the village boy Costa via her friends and would meet her boy in the woods or down at the river, where their favourite place was a hundred-year-old walnut tree. You could hide inside the trunk—it was that big. A three-foot-by-three-foot hole hollowed out the trunk from a bushfire one year before, and they could hide in it if they saw anyone come by while meeting in secret. When they met again, they were devastated.

He told her, I will not marry your sister. I have a plan to run away and become a seaman on a cargo ship. I love you, and no one else can have my heart, except you. He grabbed Betty and kissed her like it was their last kiss.

Suddenly, they heard movement in the bushes, turned around, and saw someone coming. We’ve taken too long.

Bettys parents had realised she was gone for more than two hours. Time went by so fast when you’re in love.

She pushed him out of the hollow tree and said, Run! Keep running, and don’t look back, it’s my father. He found me. I love you! they were her last words to him for years to come.

As she said this, her father grabbed her and beat her with a stick like a madman. Somehow, she got up, found the courage to push him away, yelled out to him, I want to marry him! I love him! and started running for her life, not looking back.

The old man could not believe what he heard; he did not have the legs to catch up with her. Although he tried, his old legs gave in because of his arthritis, with pain so severe, he gave up and watched her run down the country track, never to see his beloved daughter again.

CHAPTER 3

Katherine The Nun

B ETTY NEVER SPOKE of her ordeal. She took an oath of celibacy and silence, offered herself to God, and became a nun. Her father came to the convent frequently but was refused entry. He was told his daughter Betty no longer belonged to him. We have given her a new name when she took her vows to become a nun. Her new name is Katherine.

Betty’s father did not take this news very well and tried to argue with the nuns, but it did not get him anywhere. He turned his back on them, not wishing to say any more, dropped his head, and started to make his way home. How was he going to explain to his wife that their last daughter is now gone.

He couldn’t listen to his wife’s crying anymore. Therefore, he kept coming to the convent in hope of meeting his daughter. Even though it humiliated him, he persisted in hopes of easing his wife’s pain. When he failed to bring his daughter home, he accepted it will be the last time. The townspeople gossiped about this story for years to come. It was very humiliating.

Bettys father often questioned, What he may have done wrong? He could not understand a child running away, as they had given Betty everything. His heart ached for his daughter’s return. Unfortunately, his second last daughter never married Betty’s lover because he left to become a seaman. Consequently the second last daughter got bound to look after her parents and become their care taker till they both died.

Betty, now called Katherine, stayed in the convent for the rest of her life and carried her secret until one day it came back to haunt her. Over the years, she heard that the boy Costa she once loved remained unmarried. Some of her dearest friends would come visit her at the convent. They always said it was an injustice how their traditions ruin lives and didn’t change with the progressing future.

Many years had gone by. After receiving word that Betty was living at the convent, the boy Costa who had now become a man decided to visit Betty (who was unaware of her new name Katherine) as his love for her remained as strong now as they were then. But it was too late for the Costa. Betty’s life had taken a different path, and too much time had passed. He did not know she was a nun; he was hoping she was single too and only just was working at the convent as a teacher. When they met face to face Betty’s face lit up with excitement. The boy was surprised to see Betty wearing a habit. His initial thoughts were, OMG, she’s a nun!

He tried hard not to show his disappointment, and Betty felt guilty because she took her vows seriously. They locked eyes like they were teenagers again. Despite her commitment to her faith she allowed him to hold her hand, whilst they talked for hours.

As heartbreaking as it was for Katherine, she said to him, "I release you from me. Go and be happy, find love again.

You are still young. We were teenagers in love. What did we know at the time? There is another woman out there for you. I will pray for you."

He did not see the tear that dropped from her eye as she concealed it well. He would always hold a place in his heart for her and she for him.

And so, here in begins Katherine’s story. Second born to Sophia and Christian and named after her aunt Katherine who was a nun. But first, a bit about her parents after their arranged marriage and their journey to Australia, beginning with Sophia story, who was Katherines mother.

CHAPTER 4

Sophia

S OPHIA, A POOR village girl, lived with her widowed mother, Vivian, whose husband had passed away after returning home from the Turkish war having had contracted a serious illness. Vivian was not entitled to her husband’s war pension as he did not perish in battle. Sophia’s mother Vivian struggled for many years to provide for her four children. Vivian worked as a housekeeper for a wealthy family. She was provided with two meals a day as she would start at seven in the morning and finish at four in the afternoon.

One meal was always taken home to feed the children. Sometimes it was necessary to steal some potatoes or rice from the cellar. Any vegetable thrown out from the family meals were taken home. Nothing went into the bin. These were hard times. Sadly, her youngest daughter passed away of pneumonia. She was six years old. The one-bedroom house was very draughty and cold, and in the winter, they couldn’t afford wood for the fireplace in order to heat the house, so they all slept in one bed to keep warm. Sophia, who was the firstborn, was sent to the convent to work as an apprentice seamstress to help feed the family.

The local doctor would come and visit the sick at the convent, he often brought his inspiring son Peter, who would follow in his father’s footsteps in medicine. At the convent, Sophia and Peter became acquainted with each other. This is how the young lovers met. They were attracted to each other as soon as their eyes met. Their relationship grew stronger at each visit and somehow, they managed to continue meeting, communicating via secret letters, which they would hold on to until they could pass them to each other. Sometimes others would help them, like the ‘saintly’ nun Katherine. Sophia trusted Katherine and confided in her often. After all, Katherine the nun had good intentions for her, Sophia was her best student. She always told Sophia she would make sure that she married well and that she would help find her a rich husband so she could help her mother out of her state of poverty. Peter and Sophia would meet in secret, and Peter was hoping to marry Sophia soon. Sophia continued to work as an apprentice seamstress and always talked about her secret relationship with her trusted friends, and their secret rendezvous and exchange of private love notes, her trusted friends were always there for them they would deliver the letters without being noticed by the other nuns.

However, Katherine, the nun who used to watch over the girls, had other intentions in mind. The saintly nun had overheard some of Sophia’s conversations about the doctor’s son and knew his mother would never accept nor welcome a poor village girl like Sophia. The nun plotted away in an attempt to manipulate their futures; indeed, she had her reasons for this. Katherine’s brother Christian had written to her and wanted help in finding a wife. He asked for a girl with an excellent reputation, who came from a respectable family, and seeing as his sister trained young girls from his village in dressmaking, he knew he could trust her to find him a suitable match. But he did not know the lengths Katherine would go to, plotting to get him his desired bride.

Katherine’s opinion of Peter’s family was that they would never accept a poor village girl after his mother had asked Katherine to ensure he kept away from the peasant girls. Peter’s mother was unaware that it was indeed Sophia her son was interested in. Sophia pretended to be on good terms with Peter’s mother despite knowing his mother did not approve of her for her son. The saintly nun Katherine hid the last letter that the young and eager doctor’s son Peter had written for Sophia because she wished for Sophia to marry her brother Christian. The nun had her suspicions and withheld Peter’s last letter. She had passed them on sometimes as it reminded her of her youth, and she had thought no harm in it until she peeked at this last important letter for Sophia. She read in the final letter