Scenic Route To Paradise: Desperado Dale Part 2

They came around a bend and the sinking sun was a spectacular show where sea meant sky.

"Wow! It's difficult to deny the existence of the Great Artist, G.o.d when you see such a picture painted across the horizon," exclaimed Dale.

There was a pause but then Sam said, "We have a saying here on the island where the sunrise and sunset are unique and magnificent seven days a week: Sunrise is G.o.d's greeting and sunset His signature.

Dale nodded and pulled his eyes away from the colorful blend to look in the distance where miles of creamy beaches sprawled north and south. The orange afternoon glow, looking the color of peach sherbet, lingered about the landscape. It was easily understood, Sam's reference to the island being paradise. The BMW swung to the right climbing a lonely weed pocked highway up a small mountainside. After about thirty minutes of winding side road with meager glimpses of the beaches and waning sunset, they emerged on the other side of the hill.

Night had officially arrived. There were dozens of lights, near and far before them but the area seemed very rural to Dale. The Ionian Sea was a black expanse with no moon and the few stars not glimmering against its rough surface.

After driving through a black little town with few yellow flickers piercing from behind drawn curtains, Sam turned into a well groomed gravel drive, inadequately lit on either side of the entrance by large bra.s.s lamps.

A very long driveway wrapping wire-like around a bluff brought them to the front steps of "the villa" as Sam had labeled the house. The front porch framed a large bubble-like chandelier type light hanging before and above the double doors. The light was on but the long windows upstairs and down revealed a dark interior.

"I'm the caretaker slash butler slash chauffeur for this place. I just dropped the owner's niece off at the airport so it's just me and the old lady here." Sam told Dale as he pulled on the emergency brake and gave a nod toward the mansion. He hopped out before Dale could comment.

"Cozy place," murmured Dale. He plucked his phone from his pocket to check the reception strength only to find the thing lifeless. The battery was dead.

Sam was pulling groceries from the trunk when Dale joined him. "I need to charge my phone but in the meantime, can I help?" he asked. Sam handed him a basket loaded with city goods.

"Come on," Sam directed as he closed the rear hatch and turned toward the steps.

Something moved at the front left window but when Dale focused, he saw nothing. Once Sam had the front door opened, the something Dale had not seen came bounding toward them... a dog. Two dogs; one tall and grey and pony-like while the other was very small, imitating Dorothy's Toto traveling the yellow brick road. With the lights now on, Dale saw the Villa's front hall was a polished elongated hallway with archways and rooms leading off left and right. A stairway which divided at the midpoint landing was the central focus.

The miniature Toto was yipping and yapping as he danced in circles around the men while pony-dog inspected first Dale and then the basket of food Dale carried, before the gentle giant turned to Sam.

Dale was an unabashed dog lover and so he couldn't but notice how thin the animals were and yet he said, "Beautiful dogs. Are they yours?"

The dogs alternately followed and led them through the hallway and to the left as Sam replied, telling Dale about the dogs and their master who owned the estate.

"This place was quite a zoo when I was hired over three years ago but since then... Well, the owner has only been here once in that time although his family members continue to visit quite a bit. I'm sure you read about our country's economic woes. Austerity and all that? Of course, you did!" Sam said fiercely as he tossed two long loaves of bread up on the kitchen counter. "The food lines, the riots and the notorious New Dawn thugs helping the common person get back what was rightfully theirs... It was all over the news. Anyway, that was the reason I took this job... Athens was stagnating and then violent, and then things just got worse. Everyone was moving out of the cities and going back to the towns and villages where they were born or where their parents were born. I was born in Athens but we moved to the U.S. when I was an infant. Most of my family had already immigrated. I came back on a lark and stayed.

This island is connected to mainland Greece by a ferry. When I first arrived, there were three ferries a week in each direction. Now there is one every other week." Sam's cheeks puffed as he slowly exhaled and Dale wondered about this tell-tale sigh. "I had no idea how severe life in Greece would become and I put off going back to the states... Now? I can't go back. Not that I want to." He shrugged, turning away from Dale.

The lights from the hallway lit the kitchen with a shadowy gloom. Sam drew the curtain closed above the sink before crossing to a bay window and pulling the blinds closed. Although Dale hadn't responded, Sam continued, "I haven't heard from any of my family in months... I mean those in the states." He put a match to a gas lantern and then another; hanging them on decorative hooks that hung from a high ceiling which disappeared into the shadows after Sam turned off the electric light at the switch.

Dale still held the basket, as he peered about for an electric outlet to charge his cell phone. He heaved the groceries up onto the counter that bisected a dining area from the cooking part of the kitchen. Sam pulled the basket to his side. Although the room remained dark, above the steel top counter and behind Sam, the area was surprisingly bright. Dale's stomach was rumbling as he watched Sam empty the pantry supplies from the basket. He noted only the flour was store bought. The other items were a menagerie of jarred fruits, vegetables and a few dairy products.

Sam was talking and sorting and organizing when he stopped suddenly to ask, "And you... uh, Dale? What about your family? I've been rambling on about my struggles, fears and false bravado for how long? Ten minutes or more... Sorry. And I never answered your question about the dogs. It has been hard on them and all but two chickens and the milking goat are gone... either eaten or stolen and then eaten or perhaps, sold. I don't know."

There was a pot of water warming on the gas stove and Sam was chopping away at leeks. After plugging in his phone, Dale peeled the first of several potatoes before he finally spoke. "I have two sisters but I have no idea where they are. Kate was in South Africa on vacation and the youngest, Merry was supposed to fly out to meet up with me... Well, she was to meet me and my wife, our little girl and my grandparents on the very day of the attacks." Dale shook his head. "Strange but I have a real peace that my sisters are okay... You ever get that feeling? I do but then again I have an ache in the pit of my being every time I think of the rest of our family living in the Philadelphia area. We haven't been able to get through to them."

The dogs were pulling on a strand of rope; one set of teeth on either end. Growls and paws sc.r.a.pping the tile floor were the only other sound as the men contemplated the new world dynamic.

Dale said, "I am extremely grateful that my wife and child were with me. I think the odds of surviving the civil unrest and the scarcity of food, water, medical supplies - all of it - would have been more than I could have handled. I suppose I would have made it work with G.o.d's help but we flew out a few days before it hit the fan... My elderly grandparents came with us... so I wasn't put in that position. It's been tough but I'm not complaining!" It was Dale's turn to exhale dramatically. He lifted his shoulders and dropped them with a shrug, saying, "My grandparents are extremely resourceful and honestly, I am glad they are with us. They are slow but in great health. For the most part, their att.i.tude has kept me hopeful." Dale excluded Mr Adam's derision toward the French.

"Sure. I know what you mean. The elderly have been through so much! They conclude that since they've made it this far, they will continue to make it. I know exactly what you mean! I suppose they either become wise or cynical," Sam said. His conclusions were based on experience interacting with a Jewess named Bethania Kalamaki. "The old lady that lives here - she is a phenomenon. She survived the n.a.z.is and the post World War II hardships, including the Greek civil war. She knows just what to do to stay alive. You'll meet her when we eat dinner."

Dale explained their short-term goal had been and still was reaching D'Almata where his mother resided. Sam smiled and nodded at this bit of information.

Whenever D'Almata was mentioned, Dale noticed people lit-up; smiling, grinning and sometimes chuckling. The responses were never mocking or disrespectful. To Dale it seemed as if the topic at hand was a favorite uncle or childhood friend rather than the small Adriatic island nation. He wondered about this typical reaction.

Finally, he described to Sam his airport misfortune, questioning out loud the reasoning behind the aggressive behavior of the port authorities.

Sam replied, "They think you've done something that is beyond the normal illegal stuff. The bag... Maybe someone exchanged your grandmother's bag in Ma.r.s.eilles, hoping to retrieve it from her once she landed in Greece. It's been done before. That sort of scheme is not uncommon, I a.s.sure you!"

"Possibly, but I searched her bag... There is only personal stuff, some money and lots of trinkets," Dale told him. Common sense made plain that if he had the right bag, then Grandma Bean might have the phony one. "I wish my phone hadn't died. I really want to know how Anna and Gwennie are doing and my grandparents, of course," Dale said flatly.

Chapter 7 House on the Hill.

When the sun sank beyond the horizon, dark immediately arrived. Anna had forgotten how quickly night descended on the island. They had b.u.mped along at a slow pace for some time without anything looking familiar. The road north had split several times and now, she was positive that she had made a wrong decision. When exiting the last tiny town, gra.s.sy flowers sprung up in the middle of the lane. In silence, Anna admitted she was lost.

As Anna drew her conclusion but before the sun had set with the road before them noticeably overgrown, Mr Adams commented from the backseat. "It must have been a long time since this highway has seen an automobile."

Anna thought him generous in labeling the dirt road a highway. She said, "We need to go back to the village and ask for directions. I hate being lost. I miss the days of GPS!" They had used GPS in traveling through France but Anna was referring to the ease and accuracy of which seemed forever gone since March.

As night settled, Anna was stopped in front of a rusty sign that read "grocery" in Greek. It hung before a clean but squat building, typical of traditional village architecture on the island. The place doubled as house and convenience store. A gas lantern swung from the porch ceiling revealing, two old men sitting in straight back chairs at the left of the doorway.

Anna got out while her pa.s.sengers watched from the car. Bean laboriously rolled down her window. Sitting in the front seat, she was closest to the men and she hoped to see or hear something interesting.

When Anna greeted the men, they both smiled and returned her greeting. After some talk and Anna pointing first to the rental car and then back toward the city and then toward the road-turned-goat tract that lead north from the tiny town, one of the men sprung up from his seat and led Anna inside.

"Well, now what?" remarked Bean.

"Hungry! Let's have lunch!" chirped Gwyneth.

Bernie became rummaging about in the backseat. "Good idea. I could eat lunch all over again," he said. He handed a wrinkled apple off to the child.

A boy that looked to be nine or ten years old, darted from the storefront and then, a moment later, Anna emerged from the dark doorway and returned to the car.

"We're staying the night here. I'm exhausted... We all are!" She nodded toward the fleeing figure. "He's gone ahead to tell the innkeeper that we need both of his rooms."

The Nymfes Inn was a large house built behind the town on the south side of a looming hill. At one time the richest family in town had lived in the house built almost a hundred years before. During the sixties the home had fallen into disrepair with the younger family members moving to mainland Greece or immigrating. But then the golden age of tourism arrived and the home was sold and bought and sold and bought, until it had become the local bed 'n breakfast. For twenty years, the house on the hill was booked out months and years in advance. And then the economic collapse began, starting with Greece, then Ireland; Spain and all the rest overturned like dominoes tipped by a hidden hand. As of late, only lost foreigners ended up staying the night and that, infrequently. The rooms remained tidy for such occasions.

Gwennie had no expectations but the others were glad to see the updated and bright night lodgings. It took several minutes to drive the hill and unload their belongings before the front door shut out the night. The proprietor greeted them with the promise of homemade soup and local bread.

Guppo, the little boy who had run the errand to the bed 'n breakfast was returning to his uncle's grocery thinking about Anna's disclosure that she and her family were heading to the north extremity of the island before they had inadvertently drove into this village. Anna's family was from Evangelos; a town not far from his own doorstep. Guppo had come south with his sister and her husband on a holiday the previous month but now Guppo was ready to go home. He missed his mother. His thoughts pivoted when he heard the well known hum of a motorbike coming slowly through the village.

This was a poor village. Electricity was used sparingly to keep the refrigerator cold or the soccer game before the townspeople but needlessly using petrol for a motorbike or car was not ever done... not during the two months of Guppo's recent stay. Sometimes, a car or bike could be heard coming in from the city but it was either a known person from town due back or he supposed as in Anna's case, someone lost.

Guppo stepped back into the shadows. The motorcycle came on without headlights. Yellow parking lights gave barely any light and so the boy a.s.sumed the headlights had been shut-off just before entering the village. Even Guppo at his tender age knew that the road entering this out of the way spot would be untenable at night unless traveling on foot.

Glancing up the street, he saw the houses and trees were silhouetted against a hazy star studded night sky. The grocer light had been taken in and the shutters closed. The curtains were drawn for the night. There was not a light to be seen. Although trembling for himself, the boy was glad that this peculiar night traveler met no welcoming lantern as invitation to stay on.

As the bike came abreast of Guppo, the boy stood still calling upon the church Saints to make him invisible. As typical, the icons of old were nowhere to be found when their faithful called in a time of distress. Guppo not understanding that there was only One Name under heaven in which protection could be a.s.sured. As the vehicle came to an abrupt stop, the rider pulled a cigarette from his sleeve pocket. He lit it and in the glow, Guppo saw that the goggles the man wore were not like any he had seen before in his nine years of existence. Had Guppo been familiar with military gear, he would have known the goggles were made specifically for motorcycle night driving.

Before extinguishing his lighter flame, the rider looking otherworldly turned and addressed Guppo in the night.

"It's late. You are out late and therefore you have seen things... You have seen me but no one else knows that I sit here and talk with you. Perhaps if you run, I shoot you and leave you to die slowly bleeding like a Christmas pig. And me? I will be gone... a ghost in the night. But if you stay and tell me what you have seen, I will give you some drachma... the new drachma and you can buy some confection or perhaps an entire bag of potatoes for your Mama," he finished his speech in the dark as he put his lighter away. Guppo, like any true Greek wanted to work a deal but his bargaining power was restrained by fear. Still, in the child's mind he pondered Greek style.

Finally after working his mouth to speak, words came forth in a squeak. "Yes. I always see things. What is it that you want to know?" Guppo already decided what information the phantom rider sought, as nothing unique had occurred for days in the small town except the coming of Anna in the rental car. After turning off the engine, the rider leaned forward. Instantly, the night was noiseless.

"There are strangers... Americans in a rental car; a tall man traveling with an old lady. Did they come through here?" The biker seemed to hiss.

A tall man? This description stumped Guppo for several seconds and then he decided that the motorcyclist must be uncertain of the facts. The boy would need to give this man something for the drachma to come forth.

Guppo stated encouragingly, "A white rental car?" Everyone knew that the airport rental cars were white. The man said yes and so Guppo said, "I did see it, today."

The bargaining began. Guppo who decided he needed Anna and her rental car to make his way back to his mother, gave the pursuer a story that would keep his ride safe and his pocket prosperous. In short order, twenty drachmas were handed over for the information and the roar of the departing motorbike awoke half the village.

It wasn't until the next day after Bernie discovered the child clinging to the back hatch handle as he rode the car b.u.mper, that Guppo disclosed his nightmarish encounter with the man in black.

Chapter 8 Confronting the Foe.

Zeff flicked the smoldering cigarette b.u.t.t from the stern of sloop. His wish at the moment was that his own burning resentment towards everyone and especially his family, could be snuffed out so completely.

Tino Lucero, tight muscled and tight lipped sat next to Zeff. Tino was carving into a coffee-colored piece of iron wood.

Zeff said, "I try to do what is right and look what I've got. No money. No girl. Nothing and my family may or may not be glad to hear that I am alive... Well, my mother will be glad, of course. Everyone seems to be on the take... even my brothers. Or should I say, especially my brothers."

Lifting his knife from the wood, Tino examined the slender piece critically before saying, "Yeah? Well, according to Mac, you're right. Everyone is on the take. This generation is so corrupt that the Bible says it's like it was in Noah's time."

"S. I've listened to Mac plenty about Noah. I... I just never knew that it was based on a real event," Zeff responded. A tarp gave the men shade but the day was warm and the breeze nonexistent. An odd calm prevailed and the Serendipity would need to use their reserve fuel to get moving again if no wind arrived soon.

Unlike Tino's immediate family, Zeff's people were very religious in a cultural sort of way. He and his siblings had gone to religious schools and attended various church events with solemnity. In truth, the Zeferanos had a religious veneer. None of them had questioned their routine of hypocrisy because their peers and everyone they a.s.sociated with upheld the legitimacy of the spiritual faade.

Wiping the sweat from his neck with a faded bandana, Zeff said, "To prove his point from the Bible, Mac pulls up internet sources everyday... all day long. Well, I should say whenever the internet is up and working! Mac says the earthquakes and even the UFO sightings are linked to Noah! Que? If they had UFO technology back then, why did everyone supposedly drown in Noah's flood? The Bible makes no sense!"

"Crazy! Come on, Zeff! We're getting just part of the picture. I can shoot down your argument by saying, if we were drowning right now - our boat was sinking, do you think a UFO would swoop down and rescue us? No, probably not! But we've seen some really weird aircraft flying about the skies these last few weeks. Doesn't prove they were or were not around back in Noah's time." Tino began carving again.

It was true that they had seen dozens of UFOs.

Zeff tried to grasp Tino's reb.u.t.tal. Tino said, "Besides, Mac didn't say that the Bible mentions UFOs... Read it for yourself. The scriptures talk about fallen angels and their offspring - giants. So, maybe the connection is that the UFOs have something to do with what the Book of Revelation describes as the final battle between the good angels and the bad ones. I don't know! According to Mac's Bible study, Jesus said before He returns life will be like the days of Noah. With everything happening, I think there is something to it. That's why I quit smoking. Its bad for my health, the ladies don't like it and I want to go to heaven one day... You know, when I'm old." Tino crossed himself.

"Tino, you're a self righteous estpido!" declared Zeff as he stood up and deliberately dropped the damp bandana on Tino's head. Cursing in Spanish, Zeff walked off to find Mac.

The bandana landed behind the retreating Zeff and Merry picked it up as she emerged from the aft companionway. She looked toward Tino who had resumed his carving and then toward Zeff. Following Zeff, she climbed the stairs to the control center.

"What you doing?" she asked as he dropped into one of the two swivel chairs in front of the console, running his fingers through his thick hair.

Zeff didn't look over but he pulled his cigarettes from his pocket and tossed the pack a few inches to the dashboard. "I'm thinking about quitting those nasty nails, cuz I don't want to go to h.e.l.l," he said in Spanish.

"For reals? Well, you should quit. I hope you do. But really, Zeff? There are a lot of people who are going to find themselves rejected from entering heaven, even though they don't smoke," said Merry, speaking in English. Although, Merry was eight years his junior, she looked to Zeff as a younger, Baby Huey type of brother. She stood holding the back of the adjoining captain's seat, the bandana still in her hand.

"Well yeah. I'm going to quit cursing too." Swiveling towards her, he added, "You know, I am really trying to please this G.o.d of yours but He isn't happy with me. I don't know what to do.... When we get to Greece, I'm going to get some money wired from father and buy a solid gold crucifix. I'll never take it off," He smiled at his sacrificial pledge.

"Hmmm, I don't think that is going to work. Though, it sounds like you really want to please G.o.d... make Him happy with your life... your lifestyle," she said cautiously. His smile fading, Zeff nodded.

She said, "The Bible, it's like a manual to life. G.o.d tells us - dictated by humans, what is on His mind. The scriptures show us how to live a great life and how to make G.o.d happy and ultimately, how to spend eternity in Heaven. All of us are born with an inclination to sin. Your smoking isn't going to send you to h.e.l.l, as you say." Merry smiled at his shocked look.

s.n.a.t.c.hing up the crumpled pack, Zeff pointed to the health warning printed on the counterfeit package of American cigarettes. Merry threw her head back and laughed. "Yes, of course! But if you go to h.e.l.l because you die of cancer or get hit by a speeding taxi or you live to the ripe old age of 105 but still end up separated from G.o.d paying for your own sins in the Lake of Fire... Your short life here - even at 105 will be for nothing. Eternity is forever! G.o.d tells us that we are all inclined to sin eventually... My mom says 'Sinners sin.' G.o.d truly loves us and yet, it's our sin that repulses Him. G.o.d is holy and He is unwilling to allow the filth of sin in His Presence."

Zeff always got stuck here. "Si, but G.o.d is love, as you say. Everyone says so and even in that Spanish Bible you gave me... I read that G.o.d is love. Love forgives. Love does not punish by sending everyone... even the good people to h.e.l.l!" His face was red and Merry could see the frustration building and he plowed his hair with his fingers again.

Now, Merry quit smiling. "Zeff, G.o.d sends no one to h.e.l.l. It's our rejection of His payment for our sin that will send us there. I heard Mac explaining it to you the other night when you two were discussing this. Your sin can be forgiven when you make the choice to accept G.o.d's payment plan. Jesus was sent by G.o.d the Father to die for our sins. Mary, a Jewish virgin gave birth to the Son of G.o.d. When the religious people and the Romans too, had him crucified, Jesus died and then rose three days later. Death is for sinners - that's us! The second death, eternal death is for G.o.d-rejecters. You can chose to believe what the Bible says or you can chose to reject it... When you hear the good news that Jesus died and rose the third day and you chose to believe it, your dead spirit is made alive and you become born into G.o.d's family. It's your choice."

He had heard this before but today something rung true. Remembering the words he had read that morning from his Bible, 'escogeos hoy a quien sirvis,' Zeff said, "If it seems evil to serve the Lord, then choose for yourself who it is you will serve..."

Merry finished the scripture from Joshua 24. "'As for me and my house we choose to serve the Lord.' Once you've heard the great news that G.o.d is offering forgiveness of sin, it becomes a matter of choice," she said with quiet confidence.

"I'm quite tired of my sin, to tell you the truth," Zeff confided. "But I don't see how I can live up to G.o.d's expectations."

At this momentous juncture, a shout came from the crows nest.

"Merry, get Mac!" yelled Junior Tapia from above. She failed to notice the terror in his voice.

As Merry frowned skyward at the intrusion, Mac was already barreling up from below. He began yelling orders at the men and then, he pushed Merry roughly aside. "Get a life vest on and then get one to each of us," he barked just inches from her face.

Merry ran for the vests. The sloop seemed to be listing to the starboard. It had been so calm, even humdrum so what was causing this panic? She began to tighten her own vest while she scanned the water. There was nothing to be seen. Tino was yelling. The engine was sputtering to life. Zeff was cursing. Junior, dropping the final 10 feet as he came down the mast, hit the deck with a thud.

Fumbling with the life jackets, Merry looked again to the west. An ominous mist roiled above the horizon. A line of water hung in the air below the churning grey vapor. A tsunami? They had seen and even ridden, several tsunami waves but this was horrific. Could the Serendipity ride this speeding, growing mound of water?

Merry ran with the life vests while Zeff cursed and the boat swung around to meet the foe.

Chapter 9 Counterfeit.

Mr Adams was up early. His room overlooked the mature gardens that circ.u.mvented the inn. In the distance, the Ionian Sea peeped at the horizon. The sky was blue, pale blue and cloudless. The water, turbulent.

Yes, Greece was better all around compared to France, he decided again as though his thought novel.

Bernie was downstairs sitting in the shade when Bean came down dressed for the day in a lavender colored velour jogging suit. She joined him at the poolside table.