The Journey to Ancient Greece - Chapter 6

 . . . continued from Chapter 5

Not long after dark Kyla heard a rustling coming from the basket next to her. The noise woke her from a fitful sleep she was in.  She could see the silhouette of Argo’s curly hair slowly rising out of the basket.  He was doing his best not to tip anything over or make any noise.  Once he hit the deck, Argo peaked around the stack of baskets to make sure none of the sailors were passing by. He then stepped over to the basket that Zammie was in and lifted the lid. Zammie stood up, stretched his arms, and took a deep breath of fresh air.

          “Finally,” whispered Zammie.

          Next, Argo lifted the lid on Kyla’s basket and helped her out from under all the clothes.  She stepped onto the deck and stretched out as well.  She tried to take a step and started to fall before Argo caught her.

          “Careful, Kyla,” said Argo.

          “My foot’s asleep,” said Kyla.

          Argo pointed to a dark corner of the deck hidden by several large crates.  “Let’s sit over there for now.  They won’t see us behind those crates.”

          The three children crept over behind the crates and sat down on the deck leaning their backs against the interior railing of the ship.  The sky was a dark blue, the stars were clear and sharp, and the moon was as fat as a beach ball.  It cast a glimmer on the water that ran from the edge of the ship all the way out to the horizon. 

          “I told you my plan would work,” Zammie said to Kyla.

          “I know, but next time will you at least let me tell you what my idea is?” said Kyla.

          “Sure. What was your plan to get on the boat?”

          “Oh, I forget,” said Kyla. She didn’t want to admit that her plan wasn’t as good as Zammie’s. At least not this time. All she wanted was to be able to offer up her own thoughts when decisions were being made. She accepted the fact that Zammie was clever and aggressive sometimes, but he wasn’t perfect. At some point he would be stumped by a situation, and when that day came maybe then he would listen to her.

          “Are you cold?” Argo asked Kyla.

          “A little, but I’ll be okay,” she said.

          Argo quickly got up and walked back to the baskets.  When he returned he handed both Kyla and Zammie some additional clothes to wrap themselves in.

          “We have all these extra linens, we might as well use them,” said Argo.

          “Thanks, Argo,” said the cousins.

          Argo sat back down and the three children just listened to the peaceful sounds of the water lapping the outside of the ship and the calming sound of the night breeze fluttering through the large sails overhead.

          “What’s your sister’s name, Argo?” asked Zammie.

          “Kisandra.”

          “Pretty name,” said Kyla. “How old is she?”

          “She’s twelve. Two years younger than me.”

“How did she become a slave?” asked Zammie. “What happened?”

          Argo thought about this for moment before saying, “My family has a small farm near Athens. We grow dates and olives like I showed you, spices like saffron, all sorts of vegetables, and we also have goats and chickens. My father and the men who worked for him worked hard to make sure we always had enough to eat with some leftover to trade for other things we needed. Our neighbor, called Nestor, also had a farm. But he didn’t work as hard so he would end up having to borrow food from us or the other neighbors in the fall. And borrow seeds from us for planting in the spring. As time passed his debts grew and grew until one day one of the other landowners who had been loaning to Nestor for a few years finally demanded repayment.  Nestor was taken to court and ordered by a panel of judges to pay back a part of his debt within the month. This made Nestor upset because he had no way of raising this much money so quickly. His only real assets were his children. He had three sons and two daughters. The youngest was his daughter Melanie. The neighbor who was demanding the repayment told Nestor that he had a wealthy cousin in Patras who would be willing to purchase Melanie as a slave and in doing so Nestor would receive enough money to pay back the neighbor.”

          “Oh, no! How old was she?” asked Kyla.

          “Don’t interrupt, Kyla,” said Zammie.

          “She was twelve also,” said Argo. “So Nestor discussed this with his wife, and naturally she wouldn’t hear of it. They loved Melanie too much, but Nestor didn’t have any other options. Then, about two months ago, the day finally arrived when the collector was going to show up to take Melanie away. Early that morning, my sister Kisandra went out beyond the pasture where our goats usually feed so she could pick some berries. As she was walking from our home Nestor spotted her and followed her until they were far away from anyone else.”

          Argo’s voice was steady as he spoke, but Kyla and Zammie could tell that what he was feeling on the inside was anything but calm.

          “Nestor grabbed Kisandra and took her to the collector. They couldn’t stand to sell their own daughter so they kidnapped my sister and sold her instead.”

          “No! That’s awful,” said Kyla.

          “How did they get away with that?” asked Zammie.

          “When my father realized what had happened, my sister was already miles away,” said Argo. “My father went to Nestor’s house and fought with Nestor until they had to be pulled apart by some of the other neighbors.  My father was going to have Nestor arrested, but by the time the officials had arrived Nestor and his family had vanished.  They left most of their belongings behind.  They just disappeared. Not long after that the call for soldiers came from Athens and my father was sent with the other men to train for the approaching war with the Persians. All women and children would be sent to Troezen.  I promised my father I would find Kisandra and have her safe with us there.  Then several days later I see you two standing alone on a hillside and here we are.”

          “We’re glad to help you, Argo,” said Zammie.

          “You two owe me a story tomorrow,” Argo said.  “I want to know where you’re from, but we should try to sleep now.  This boat will be docking near Patras early tomorrow and we’ll need to be ready to jump off quickly.”

          “Okay,” said the cousins.

          The breeze coming in off the water was growing cooler so the three children huddled close to each other and wrapped themselves in the linens to stay warm.  Zammie lay on his back on the deck and looked up at the night sky. The man in the moon was staring down at him.  He had never seen stars so bright before.  He wondered if his mom and dad were looking for him.  He was still amazed at the experience they were having, but he and Kyla would have to figure out a way home soon. They couldn’t stay in Greece forever.

          The gentle rocking of the boat made Kyla’s stomach a bit queasy. She liked being on boats, but she never had good luck sleeping on them. She was so exhausted, however, that it really didn’t matter. Soon all three of the children fell into a deep sleep.

 To be continued in Chapter 7 . . .

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!