Manolis showed us into the musty little room at the back of their house. It was such a relief to feel safe again amongst their books, the paintings and displays of his African souvenirs; the face masks, the animal tusks and the art nouveau figurines cluttering the shelves from his tours with the bouzouki orchestra. A tall pipe with a glass bowl caught my eye and before I could ask Nikos grinned, 'It's his narghile, a keepsake from the wild days but just an ornament now. At least, I think so.’ He laughed.
Opposite the window in a large frame, hung a black and white photograph of ten or eleven musicians, dressed like bank clerks in suits, white shirts and ties and almost all wearing moustaches. In their arms they cradled their bouzoukis all pointing to the left. They looked like a well-organised gang of the Cosa Nostra and in a way that's what they were. One of them wore straw slippers. The one on his right was my father. To think he'd sat on these chairs, had looked at that picture, walked on this floor and seen all the things I could see in that room.
Manolis poured our tea while Maria made herself comfortable and settled down to listen, 'Well then, who's going to speak first? What did you discover?'
And so they began, Alessandra, Alexis and Nikos, taking their time covering every detail and full of suggestions on how to overcome the looming threat from Kaliantikos. They talked at length but words would not come from me. I sat in silence, disheartened; nodding at the appropriate moments, trying to show interest, looking enthusiastic, and all the while playing for time and becoming more and more overwhelmed by my own personal insecurities. My mind went straight to me standing on the deck of Daphne's boat the following day and the whole confrontation thing coming to a head. My life at that moment could not have been worse yet I was full of admiration for these tortured villagers and compared to their solid commitment, once again I felt like an outsider – and a coward. I have never been one for confrontation; it's just not in my nature.
When they'd finished, there was a hush. Then to my surprise Alessandra put an arm across my shoulders and kissed my cheek, 'You still love her, don't you?'
'Do we ever fall out of love completely?' I could not look at her.
'I don't know, it's just that, well, if you want to pull out, we'd understand. She was your wife and we can't imagine what this is doing to you.'
For some split second Ebby's lecture sparked my mind and at last I spoke up, 'Look, what Mercouri did to Mikri is typical of Daphne, as is what she is doing now to Sophia. She's ego driven. We know Mercouri and the driver work for her now. I think she's been onto me since I arrived. She's been trying to wear me down with the bullying, the rifling our house, little Mikri's murder and now for some reason, she seems to think the rest will all fall into place once I'm out of the way, and I'm not so sure what to do.'
Maria paid full attention, never interrupting or commenting, but staring at the floor herself and wiping a tissue over her face from time to time. Then she spoke, 'So, these looters use the sacred ruins at Faria as their base, that much is definite. Next thing is, we need support. Nevertheless, since we have to suspect the local authorities are completely aware of what is going on but may be suffering from wilful blindness, to approach them with our suspicions might place ourselves in an even more vulnerable position than we are in already. I don't know where we can go from here.'
'On the other hand they might well be playing out their nets in order to ensnare the bigger fish,' suggested Nikos.
'We can't take that chance. Most of the villagers just don't have the will to fight these people. I know they are not that many, but they are young and recklessly motivated by greed and the chance of easy wealth. Tonight, I will send urgent communiqués to the Customs and Excise authorities in Athens and Rhodes demanding their help. That will give us authority and expertise. It all depends on their help.'
Then Manolis spoke, 'If I may make a suggestion, at the present time the village population is swelled by many proud Sophians who have travelled far to be on the soil of their ancestors for the festival and this soil is very precious to them. I know they would help.'
'And I suppose we could try to rescue as many of the pieces at Faria as we could carry away,' my voice was small and hopeless.
Alexis flicked a questioning glance in my direction, 'It makes sense, boss. It's a good plan.' His optimism stung at my faint-heartedness. I avoided his eyes.
Alessandra spoke, 'And if we can use your boat Niko, we can load some of it on board and take it to Dorini long before the robbers return. Anyone who can walk must do their bit and take whatever they can carry.'
Then Nikos, 'Better still, what if we get in touch with Captain Dimitris? He could bring his boat too; it's big enough to take all our pieces to store them in the crypt of the basilica at Dorini. The rest of the stuff we leave for the Customs and Excise to find in possession of the looters. The weather is turning heavy, a storm is forecast soon, and any storm's a bastard on the sea.' He shot a glance at his sister, 'Excuse me, Alessandra.'
'That is a splendid idea,' said Maria. 'We will have a few days after they leave and before they return, so we must be prepared and be ready. We must keep watch and not waste a second.'
'We won't be able to stop them from coming ashore but when they do maybe we should try talking to them as a last resort.' I reached for a drink, wishing I hadn't sounded so feeble.
'What! Talk to them? No! You can't be serious,' Alessandra was angry. 'We'll just have to hope the Customs turn up on time. If they don't, everything'll depend on our support from the visitors. I don't think we should look on the dark side. You have to be positive. Maybe you can find out more about their plans when you visit the yacht tomorrow.'
'I'm being the devil's advocate that's all. There will be lives at stake, on both sides.' But I could tell she doubted my determination. She had every right to. I looked away again.
'If, however, some of the pieces find their way into our homes, then we will definitely be a real living museum,' Nikos grinned.
It was soon time to leave. Exhausted, we arranged to meet the day after next to finalise plans, and yet even then I knew my confidence had gone. I'd never felt so low. The next day I'd be having lunch with the Harpies, Daphne and Adrian. Their schooner was moored at the gates of Hades and I didn't want to think of the consequences if I didn't show.