walked home at a mule’s pace through the summer evening. My shoulders were prickling for arrows … but it might still be a false alarm. I’d been sent to prepare our escape route before, and the danger had passed.
Not this time.
Koukla met me in the kitchen yard, in tears, with the news that Anthe, and Palikari, and Kore had
all three
disappeared. They’d been gone for hours, they must have been taken by the king, they must be dead!
“Where’s the boss?” I demanded. “Where’s my mother?”
“They’re indoors, Perseus. The shock, it’s been too much for poor Papa, his head’s turned, he’s behaving as if nothing’s wrong!”
I rushed indoors. The boss was working as usual. He told me at once that Kore was safe. She’d been “missing” since midafternoon, but it turned out she’d gone to visit the Enclosure. Holy Mother had sent word that that’s where she was.
“What about Pali and Anthe?”
“Ah,” said the boss. “Now that may be a problem.”
We were surrounded by the clamor of the busy kitchen. Waitresses hurried from the dining room, shouting for squid, honey-baked mullet, wheat ribbons with lobster sauce, greens in lemon and oil. The spit boy shot up to Papa Dicty’s station, sweating and red in the face. Dicty inspected a platter of roast meat slices, approved it with a nod; the boy sped to deliver it to the undercook who was making up orders.
“I’d like you to look for them, Perseus. They’ve been gone too long, and they told no one where they were going. Take Kefi, so you can send him back with a message if need be. You might go upstairs a little way. But no farther than the cemetery.”
Upstairs
meant the way to the High Place. That road was forbidden to us. The boss was as good as telling me to break the truce. I felt as if I’d been dunked in ice melt. So this is it, I thought. This is really it. I saw the island of sand, long ago: Serifos gouged by warfare. I thought of the darkness rushing in….
“What if I don’t find them? Or if I meet opposition?”
“Then you come back. Before I forget, was all well with our friend?”
He meant Bozic. “Yes. All’s well, no problems.”
The boss smiled at me. “Off you go. Don’t make trouble if you don’t find it.”
Moumi had been doing my front-of-house job. She left it to one of the waitresses and came to see me off. It wasdark in the yard by then. The geese and chickens were jabbering, settling for the night; the sounds and lights of the taverna seemed far away. Koukla was trembling as if she’d already seen the three of us carried back dead. I hugged her, and she squeezed me as if I was a recalcitrant piece of washing. My mother held up the lamp. I saw the grim resolve in her eyes: dark blue, like mine.
“Why did she go to the Enclosure, Moumi? She’s never left the house alone.”
“I don’t know…. Perseus, you’re not a child anymore. This had to come.”
“I know I’m not a child. We’ll find them, don’t worry. Maybe they went for a walk in the fields, Pali sprained his ankle and they’re limping home. Come on, Kefi.”
It had to come, my day of reckoning with the king of Serifos; I knew that. But right now I was thinking of my friends. This was how it happened to other people. Young men, boys, recently even girls too: they went out one day and they never came home. They’d been kidnapped and forced to join the king’s guard, or to work in the mines.
What I found hard to bear was the way the people didn’t complain. They mourned as dead the children, brothers, sisters, lovers they would never see again. They were robbed, bullied and beaten by the king’s men. We heard of incidents all the time, and we gave the victims what help we could. But they were like Papa Dicty himself, still
waiting
for something, before they would resist. Some of them even praised the king. He was a strong leader; he had made Serifos a name in the world….
I’d had some weapons training. There were old men up in
Not this time.
Koukla met me in the kitchen yard, in tears, with the news that Anthe, and Palikari, and Kore had
all three
disappeared. They’d been gone for hours, they must have been taken by the king, they must be dead!
“Where’s the boss?” I demanded. “Where’s my mother?”
“They’re indoors, Perseus. The shock, it’s been too much for poor Papa, his head’s turned, he’s behaving as if nothing’s wrong!”
I rushed indoors. The boss was working as usual. He told me at once that Kore was safe. She’d been “missing” since midafternoon, but it turned out she’d gone to visit the Enclosure. Holy Mother had sent word that that’s where she was.
“What about Pali and Anthe?”
“Ah,” said the boss. “Now that may be a problem.”
We were surrounded by the clamor of the busy kitchen. Waitresses hurried from the dining room, shouting for squid, honey-baked mullet, wheat ribbons with lobster sauce, greens in lemon and oil. The spit boy shot up to Papa Dicty’s station, sweating and red in the face. Dicty inspected a platter of roast meat slices, approved it with a nod; the boy sped to deliver it to the undercook who was making up orders.
“I’d like you to look for them, Perseus. They’ve been gone too long, and they told no one where they were going. Take Kefi, so you can send him back with a message if need be. You might go upstairs a little way. But no farther than the cemetery.”
Upstairs
meant the way to the High Place. That road was forbidden to us. The boss was as good as telling me to break the truce. I felt as if I’d been dunked in ice melt. So this is it, I thought. This is really it. I saw the island of sand, long ago: Serifos gouged by warfare. I thought of the darkness rushing in….
“What if I don’t find them? Or if I meet opposition?”
“Then you come back. Before I forget, was all well with our friend?”
He meant Bozic. “Yes. All’s well, no problems.”
The boss smiled at me. “Off you go. Don’t make trouble if you don’t find it.”
Moumi had been doing my front-of-house job. She left it to one of the waitresses and came to see me off. It wasdark in the yard by then. The geese and chickens were jabbering, settling for the night; the sounds and lights of the taverna seemed far away. Koukla was trembling as if she’d already seen the three of us carried back dead. I hugged her, and she squeezed me as if I was a recalcitrant piece of washing. My mother held up the lamp. I saw the grim resolve in her eyes: dark blue, like mine.
“Why did she go to the Enclosure, Moumi? She’s never left the house alone.”
“I don’t know…. Perseus, you’re not a child anymore. This had to come.”
“I know I’m not a child. We’ll find them, don’t worry. Maybe they went for a walk in the fields, Pali sprained his ankle and they’re limping home. Come on, Kefi.”
It had to come, my day of reckoning with the king of Serifos; I knew that. But right now I was thinking of my friends. This was how it happened to other people. Young men, boys, recently even girls too: they went out one day and they never came home. They’d been kidnapped and forced to join the king’s guard, or to work in the mines.
What I found hard to bear was the way the people didn’t complain. They mourned as dead the children, brothers, sisters, lovers they would never see again. They were robbed, bullied and beaten by the king’s men. We heard of incidents all the time, and we gave the victims what help we could. But they were like Papa Dicty himself, still
waiting
for something, before they would resist. Some of them even praised the king. He was a strong leader; he had made Serifos a name in the world….
I’d had some weapons training. There were old men up in
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