‘And who will pay for the paint?’ demanded the scary woman who Penny had been addressing eye-to-eye. She waited with a stern expression while Takis translated.

‘I will,’ announced Penny, surprising herself. After all, she still had a bit of money left from her legacy. ‘And Helen here will provide lunch for everyone.’

Nell blinked. Penny knew she’d done a catering course, and now she was sunk in it whether she liked it or not.

‘And who are you to tell us what to do?’ suddenly demanded one of the old ladies, swathed entirely in black to proudly proclaim the status of her widowhood. ‘Incomers who don’t even know Kyri!’

Various others, especially the men, murmured in agreement.

On her own, Penny would probably have agreed with them, but fortunately she had Takis on her side. Before there was time for the rebellion to catch on, he spoke up. ‘Listen, my friends. You all know what is our problem? Eight out of ten new jobs are in tourism. How many of them are in Kyri? None! Will your children become fishermen like you, and brave the winter sea to catch a few fish? No, no and no!’ He turned to a grizzled old man at the back. ‘Apostolis, where are your grandchildren?’

‘In Athens,’ conceded the grizzled gentleman.

‘And your daughter, Irene Papadopoulos? Where is she?’

‘In Santorini. Married to an Albanian.’

They all shook their heads in sympathy at this Greek tragedy.

‘Takis is right,’ said Apostolis. ‘We must stop all our sons and daughters having to leave Kyri. We will come with our paintbrushes and make our island even more beautiful than it already is!’

Nell, sensing the change of mood in the room, smiled to herself. Through a combination of threat and charm, Takis had won them over. As her mind flipped through possible options for feeding a small Greek army tomorrow, she noticed a newcomer making his way through the crowd.

He was tall and well-built, with greying black hair and a moustache to match, and his deeply tanned skin provided a dramatic contrast to the faded blue denim of his shirt. He looked round at the gathering with a detached amusement until his eyes fixed on Penny. He seemed mentally to take a step back and look again, as if he were seeing something he couldn’t quite believe to be true.

‘Nikos,’ Takis greeted him enthusiastically. ‘Nikos, my friend. I doubt that you will want to rent out your house on Airbed . . .’ Nell laughed at this approximation of Airbnb. ‘But this will affect you also. You are going to be No. 1 tourist resort on Kyri.’

The man called Nikos laughed. ‘Just as well my house is round the corner. I wouldn’t want to wake all your guests with my noisy motorcycle.’

‘Ladies,’ Takis smiled broadly. ‘This is Nikos Dukakis, my very old friend, as well as esteemed mayor of the island of Kyri.’