The Journey to Ancient Greece - Chapter 8

. . . continued from Chapter 7 

Zammie was in the middle of a frightening dream where he was being chased by Captain Jack Sparrow while riding a quidditch broomstick when he was awoken by the bright glare of the sun beaming down on his face.  He sat up to see Kyla sleeping a couple feet away from him. The next thing he noticed was that they were surrounded by water. For a split second Zammie had the horrifying feeling that they had floated out into the ocean. He then remembered that they were in the Gulf of Corinth and couldn’t be that far from land.  Unfortunately no land could be seen. 

          “Zammie!” a voice rang out from the distance.

          Zammie looked around and saw Argo on the other plank about fifty yards away.  All three of the children had fallen asleep during the night and Argo’s plank had drifted off on another current.

“Hold on, Argo,” said Zammie. “We’ll come to you.”

The yelling had awoken Kyla. She looked around and said, “Where are we now?”

“I don’t know but we need to catch up with Argo. He’s drifting away. Help me paddle towards him.”

Zammie and Kyla used their arms to propel their makeshift raft towards Argo. Kyla looked down into the deep blue water below and wondered if there were any big whales waiting to burst through the surface and swallow them.

Zammie dropped down into the water and began pushing the plank while kicking with his feet to generate more speed. It was exhausting work, but eventually the two cousins reached Argo.

“Any idea where we could be?” asked Zammie. He climbed back up on top of the plank.

“I don’t know,” said Argo, “but I know it’s early morning because the sun is still low in the sky over there. And unless we passed Patras during the night then it must be over there.” Argo pointed in a direction opposite from where the sun was rising.

“Then we should paddle that way,” said Zammie. “Can you do that?”

“Let’s go,” said Argo, and he began paddling as he had seen the cousins do.

“I’m thirsty, Zammie,” said Kyla. She was still very tired.

“Me too, Kyla, but we need to get to land. Can you help me paddle?”

“I’ll try.”

The two cousins used their strength to paddle after Argo. From time to time Zammie would drop down into the water again and begin kicking, but he would quickly grow exhausted and have to climb back up on the plank to rest.

They paddled and they paddled. The scenery didn’t change. Little waves continued to lap against the planks of wood as the children bobbed slowly on the water’s surface.  Zammie worried what would happen if the planks began to crack or dissolve in the salt water.  Would they be able to tread water out here? Would they be attacked by sharks?

Soon Kyla had to stop paddling.

“I’m tired, Zammie,” she said.

“We have to keep going,” said Zammie. “The more we paddle, the less time we have to wait to reach land.”

Kyla struggled to begin paddling again but the sun was directly above them now, and was burning down on their unprotected heads. Their parents had grown up in a small fishing village in the Philippines and would have been more adept in such conditions, but Kyla and Zammie were California city kids.  The hot sun made them uncomfortable and the lack of water was taking its toll. Zammie’s tongue was dry and the sight of the blue sea water made him even thirstier.

The three children continued to paddle as best they could, but their strength was giving out.  Kyla could barely move her arms anymore when she noticed a large object floating in the water in the distance.

“Zammie, what’s that?” she asked pointing towards the horizon.

Zammie looked for a moment, shielding his eyes from the hot glare of the sun.  He quickly turned to Argo, “Hey, Argo,” he said. “This way! There’s a boat!”

The three children summoned what energy they had left and paddled hard to move towards the small boat they spotted.  As they got closer Zammie could tell that it was a small fisherman’s boat with one man aboard. Zammie jumped down into the water once more and began pushing Kyla and the plank towards the boat while kicking his legs.  He used the plank of wood like the paddle board he used in swim class the previous year at school.  He was hoping desperately that the fisherman would have water to drink.

Argo noticed that Zammie was making good speed by using the paddle board method.

“Zammie, wait,” said Argo.

Zammie was about ten feet away from Argo when he stopped.  Argo paddled his own plank towards Zammie.

“Let me help you so we can get there faster,” said Argo.

“Okay, but hold on tight,” said Zammie.

Argo carefully dropped into the warm water while holding on tightly to the plank on which Kyla was sitting. Both he and Zammie began to kick and they moved the plank even faster towards the fisherman’s boat.

As they approached the boat the fisherman saw them and leaned out to try and reach for them. He was a young Indian man probably in his twenties with thick black hair, sun-darkened skin, and a few days growth of beard. He wore a white cloth dhoti wrapped around his waist almost like a skirt, but in the hot midday sun he wore no shirt.

“What are you kids doing out here?” asked the fisherman. “Let me help you.”

Kyla was the first helped into the small boat followed by Argo and Zammie. Their tunics were soaked but the warm breeze off the water helped them to dry out a little.

“Thank you so much,” said Zammie. “You have no idea…”

Zammie paused when he looked at the fisherman because he looked so familiar.

“Mister G?” asked Zammie.

The fisherman cocked his head to the side with a grin. “Who?” he asked.

“Mister G,” repeated Zammie. “Kyla, doesn’t he look like Mister G?”

“Mister G is old, Zammie,” said Kyla.

“I know, but…what’s your name, sir?” asked Zammie.

“Jasvinder. But you can call me Vinnie,” said the fisherman.

“Vinnie, you look like someone else I know,” said Zammie. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was Ramesh. There was the obvious age difference between Vinnie and Ramesh but the nose and eyes and slanted smile all looked the same. Maybe he was a distant relative.

“What are you children doing so far out here by yourselves?” asked Vinnie.

“Do you have any water, sir?” asked Kyla.

“Yes, of course,” said Vinnie. All three of the children exhaled in unison. Vinnie took a small clay bowl and dipped it into a larger clay pot filled with fresh water. He handed the bowl to Kyla who drank it quickly.

          “Oh, it’s so good,” said Kyla.

          “Not too fast, Kyla,” said Zammie. “You’ll get sick if you drink too fast.”

          Vinnie served each of the three children while Zammie told him their story.

          “So you are trying to get to Patras?” asked Vinnie after listening to their tale.

          “Yes,” said Argo. “Are we far?”

          “No, not far at all,” answered Vinnie. “In fact, I can take you there. Patras is just a few miles that way.” Vinnie pointed towards the west. Zammie could see the dark outline of land along the horizon. “I can take you there, but first you will need to do a favor for me.”

          “What do you need?” asked Argo.

          “If I take you to Patras now I will lose the rest of my day for fishing. But I will take you to Patras tomorrow if you help me fill this boat with fish today,” said Vinnie.

          “How do we do that?” asked Kyla.

          “It’s easy,” said Vinnie. “Watch me.” Vinnie took a net and tossed it out over one edge of the boat. “Just like that,” he said. The net sunk down into the water. After a couple moments he slowly pulled the net back up to the boat and there was a handful of small, shiny fish wriggling in the net.

          “You see?” Vinnie said. “Drag the nets slowly from side to side then pull them up. This time a day you should catch a lot of these small ones.” He gave a net to each of the three children. “Argo, you take that side, Kyla you take the front, and Zammie you take this side.”

          Each of the children threw their net out over the water on different sides of the boat. Zammie saw Vinnie pick up a knife and a leather bag that he slung over his shoulder.

          “What are you going to do?” asked Zammie.

“With Arjuna’s help,” said Vinnie, “I will return with a good catch.”

          With that Vinnie stepped off the boat and into the water. The water had become so clear that Zammie could easily see him nose diving for the sea floor.  The colors of the corals, fish, and ocean plants looked vibrant and magical down below the water’s surface. Everything appeared to be turquoise, orange, and purple, and swayed slowly to the rhythm of the currents.

          “Arjuna?” Zammie said to himself.

          “What’s he doing?” asked Kyla.

          “He’s getting fish from the ocean floor,” said Zammie.

          “Is it safe down there?” she asked.

          “Kyla, I know that’s Mister G. I don’t know how, but I know it is,” said Zammie.

          “What?” she said. “You’re crazy.”

          “We’re in ancient Greece, Kyla. I don’t doubt that anything is possible now,” said Zammie.

          Argo lifted up his net and found it full of small, silver fish wriggling and dancing.

          “Look!” he said.

          “Pull it on board,” said Zammie. He stepped over to help Argo pull the net up.  Both the net and the fish fell onto the floor of the boat.

          “What do we do with them?” asked Kyla.

          “We’ll put them in a pile over here,” said Argo.  He shook the fish out of the net into a corner of the boat.  There were many fish still stuck in the tight mesh of the net and Argo had to pull them out individually. By the time he had finished they heard a splash and a loud gasp on the other side of the boat. Everyone looked over to see Vinnie swimming towards them with one arm. When he reached them he lifted his other arm out of the water and threw a squirming, purple and gray bundle onto the floor of the boat.

          Kyla jumped up. “Squid!” she yelled.

          “No, it’s an octopus,” said Zammie. “And it’s a big one!”

          “Yes,” said Vinnie. He climbed up into the boat and took the leather bag off his shoulder. “Look what else I found.”  Vinnie showed the children the bag filled with large clams that he had scavenged from the rocks below.

          “How long can you hold your breath, Vinnie?” asked Kyla.

          Vinnie laughed. “Long enough to get all this,” he answered.

          “We already got some fish,” said Argo. “We put them over there.”

          Vinnie looked where Argo was pointing. “Wonderful!” said Vinnie. A few more hauls like that and we’ll be in business.”

          “I’m hungry,” said Kyla.

          “You are?” asked Vinnie. His expression showed concern for the young child.

          “I think we all are,” said Zammie. “We haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

          “Oh,” said Vinnie. “Well, I hope you like fish. As you can guess, it’s all I have.”

          “Ha! We’re Filipino! We love fish,” said Zammie.

          “Fili-what?” asked Vinnie.

          “Nevermind,” said Zammie. “You like fish, don’t you, Argo?”

          “I would eat just about anything right now,” said Argo

“Me too. I can clean these.” Zammie grabbed one of the silver and blue fish. “Is it okay if we have this one, Vinnie?”

“Be my guest,” said Vinnie.

Zammie took one of the small knives in the corner of the boat and began scaling the fish.

“Is it dead?” asked Kyla.

“Yes,” said Zammie. “But I’m so hungry I’d eat it live.”

“Gross,” said Kyla.

Zammie rinsed the fish in the water then chopped off the tail and head. Then he slit the belly open and rinsed out the fish guts in the water as well.

“I hope this doesn’t attract sharks,” said Zammie.

“Me too,” said Vinnie with his crooked grin.

Zammie sliced off a thick filet from the side of the fish and offered it to Kyla.

“Wow, you’re pretty good at that,” said Vinnie.

“I go fishing with my dad and uncles a lot,” said Zammie.

“Eat it raw?” asked Kyla.

“It’s sashimi,” said Zammie. “Like at the Japanese restaurant we went to.”

Kyla held the pink fish flesh between her fingers and took a small bite out of it. She chewed a couple times then smiled and took a bigger bite.

“Good, huh?” said Zammie.

Kyla nodded and gobbled up the rest. She was too hungry to ask if there was any seasoning to put on it.

Zammie sliced off a serving for himself and Argo as well.  It wasn’t quite a feast but it would do until they got back to land. After eating, Vinnie and the three children continued to fish for a couple more hours. They hauled in so much fish that the boat soon rested nearly a foot deeper in the water than when the children first arrived.

“Okay, I think I’ve made you children work long enough. Let’s head back to shore,” said Vinnie.

All three children helped Vinnie paddle back to land. By the time they reached the beach the sun was beginning to set in the western horizon where the Gulf of Corinth led out towards the Mediterranean Sea. The four of them pulled Vinnie’s boat up onto the sand and packed all the fish into a series of clay pots of varying sizes.  There were a couple other fishermen on the beach pulling their boats onto land as well, but this place wasn’t nearly as busy as the port they had left near Delphi. There wasn’t an actual dock.  The fishermen just pulled their flat-bottom boats out of the water and up onto the sand.

“Do you know where to find you sister in Patras, Argo?” asked Zammie.

“Not exactly,” said Argo. “I just know she is at the house of the Kaiaphas family. But I’m not sure where they live.”

“We will rest at my house tonight,” said Vinnie. “My wife is an excellent cook, and I have two children your age who would love to meet you.”

“That sounds great!” said Kyla.

“Yes, but we should begin travelling early tomorrow,” said Argo.

“I agree. We’ll start early,” said Vinnie. “Now, if each of you can carry a pot for me that would be wonderful. Kyla, you take that little one there and follow me. My house is just over this hill.”

          Each of the children picked up a pot of fish. Vinnie carried a long bamboo stick on both of his shoulders. There were nets filled with fish, bags of clams, and octopi tied to the ends of both sticks. The mini-caravan of Vinnie and his three seafarers walked from the beach towards a small hill covered with soft, green grass. On the other side of the hill was a little village consisting of about twelve small homes.  Kyla could see a beautiful meadow on the far side of the village and a thin, clear brook that ran through it. There were both chickens and little children running around the dirt paths between the homes. The children continued to play until they saw Vinnie and his compatriots entering the village, and then they all began running towards Vinnie calling his name.

          “Uncle Vinnie! Uncle Vinnie!” yelled the children. They all ran up to Vinnie trying to get a glimpse of the day’s catch. Vinnie led everyone to the small brook near the edge of the village where he put the fish down.  Several old women were there waiting.  They grabbed the fish from the pots and took it to the brook where they began to scale and clean them. Some of the children also pitched in to help clean the fish.

          “They’ll take it from here,” Vinnie told his three visitors. “Follow me. I’ll take you to my home.”  Vinnie led the three children into the village where they walked up to a small house made of mud bricks and stone.  The front door was made of tree limbs and the windows were just open squares in the walls.

          “Leela!” said Vinnie, “come out here for a moment. I have brought guests.”

          Vinnie’s wife walked out of their small house and greeted the children with a gentle smile. She was an Indian woman with long, black hair and sparkling brown eyes. 

          “Hello,” Leela said. She wore a purple and yellow cotton sari that Kyla thought was beautiful.

          “This is Kyla, Zammie, and Argo,” said Vinnie. “I found them out at sea. They say they were on a merchant ship that was sunk by pirates.”

          Leela gasped.

          Zammie noticed that several small children had gathered around a few paces away watching the strangers closely. He saw a little dark-haired Indian girl who was about five years old staring at him so he smiled and waved to her. The little girl smiled and turned to her friends and started laughing.

          “They will stay with us tonight, Leela,” said Vinnie.

          “Of course! You must be exhausted,” said Leela.

          “Yes, ma’am,” said Zammie. “We’ve had a crazy couple of days.”

          “You should make them some of your famous fish curry,” Vinnie said to his wife.

          “I can do that,” Leela said.

          “Excuse me, ma’am,” said Argo, “but where can I wash my clothes?”

          “We can do that for you as well,” said Leela.

          “We have extra clothes you can wear,” said Vinnie.

          “Yes,” said Leela, “I have some extra tunics that should fit you. I can wash your clothes and then let them dry overnight.”

          “That’s good, because my clothes smell like the ocean,” said Kyla.

          “Anjali! Mukesh! Come over here,” Vinnie said to two of the children who had gathered around watching the visitors. Everyone in the village was Greek except for Vinnie and his family who were Indian. Zammie was still convinced this young man before him was somehow his old neighbor back in California but he had no idea how that made any sense.  He had no idea how any of this made any sense.

          The five year old girl who had waved at Zammie ran over to Vinnie, and a boy who was probably seven walked over as well.  “This is my daughter, Anjeli, and this is my son, Mukesh,” said Vinnie. “These three visitors are going to stay with us tonight. So we need to build a fire pit to cook supper for them.”

          “And then ghost stories?” asked Mukesh.

          “I don’t know, son,” said Vinnie. “Do you think they can handle it?”

          Mukesh looked at three visitors with a big smile on his face. “Yes!”

          “Haha! I’m sure they can, but let’s get the fire going first,” said Vinnie.

          “Okay!” said Mukesh, and he ran off towards a stack of firewood near the meadow behind the house.

          Vinnie stepped over to his daughter. “Anjali, you go help your mother with the curry.”

          “Yes, dadi,” said Anjali in a tiny voice before running back inside the house with her mother.

          Vinnie looked at his three visitors with a big smile. “I know you all are hungry. Leela makes the best curry you’ll ever have.”

To be continued in Chapter 9 . . .  

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!