A carpet of water was propelling the Serendipity at breakneck speed toward an oceanic cliff that arose several miles to the west and north. The sensation was similar to riding an escalator or the walking sidewalks at the airport, only much faster.
Merry didn"t have the leisure to study the event. Her brain was screaming at her feet, hands and eyes. Slow motion... I"m moving in slow motion! Forcing her face away from the horizon, she looked to Mac and made her legs obey. Out of the corner of her eye, Merry caught Junior moving to cross her path. She thrust out a life jacket as he approached. Without missing a beat he grabbed it, continuing across the deck toward his goal.
Turning from Mac after thrusting a vest before him, Merry noticed shadows crisscrossing the deck. A strange longing to look up to see perhaps several wide-winged albatrosses overtook her but she resisted the impulse. Ahead of her was Zeff and Tino pulling and pushing frantically on the mainsail. Mac wanted no sail in case there was a freak wind accompanying the approaching tsunami. Already the sloop was moving at 40 knots or more along with the rushing water being drawn toward the enormous wave.
Not only did Merry sense she was moving frustratingly slow, as if through gelatin, semi-gelled but there was an absence of sound. Mac"s lips had been moving when she gave him his life vest. The wind rustled the sails as they sped west and yet, Merry heard nothing. Her mouth was open and she seemed to be speaking or even, yelling but her words emptied into a void. When she left the jackets with Tino and Zeff, Merry began to pray as she headed for Mac"s side. To her amazement, her prayer came forth crystal clear. Her voice had an authoritative tone not unlike the operatic singer in an Italian opera. She loved to sing! Smiling widely, she continued her sing-song praying. Mac and Junior hesitated in their concentration on the wall of water growing high before them, to glance back at her.
Instantly, Merry stood by her husband. A shift, and now the sky and the water moved exceptionally slow but not Merry. Turning forward, Mac once again confronted the water giant and then he began praying too. Large fleeting shadows continued darting across the deck. Merry shifted her gaze to Junior. He was praying; his face skyward. She looked up.
Merry"s song like prayer faltered but a moment. Above them, maybe a mile or more were dozens of foreign looking aircraft. If Merry didn"t know better, she would have guessed that an alien air battle was taking place. The guesstimation didn"t firm up in her mind. Instead, Merry decided quite confidently that she was indeed dreaming.
The music that she, Mac and Junior were making together with their loud melodious prayers was angelic. She didn"t want the dream to quit! Singing, praying and looking aloft she felt Mac"s hand on her arm.
Oh, no! If Mac wakes me up now I won"t get to see how this great adventure ends. Our music will stop!
Evidently, she didn"t wake up. Merry pulled her eyes from the battle above and looked over the bow toward the mountainous wave with a churning mist above and its wide shadow before. Comprehending that it was a dream and G.o.d, Himself seemed to be present speaking through her as she sang and prayed, fear was absent. Merry sensed only G.o.d"s presence and Mac to her right as he harmonized with Junior.
Oceanic mountain peaks were uncovered by the tsunami suction. Fish, large fish and small could be seen swimming crazily just beneath the water about their boat. Exploding from the ocean current, a seash.e.l.l covered peak appeared to rise up near them as they sped on but in reality, seawater was being sucked up into the oncoming wave revealing the normally submerged world. Still fearless, Merry was in awe of the detail she saw... The widening black shadow of the monster wave was racing to meet them. Never had she dreamed so lucidly!
Everything is color! I can feel the wind on my face...
Mac"s hand continued firmly on her arm. The prayer coming from him drew her attention. He was rebuking the wave! How could he? Hadn"t G.o.d set everything in motion; the stars and the heavens, the earth and the sea?
Understanding their words her words, Merry realized the three prayer warriors were singing and praying and reprimanding together.
The sun would soon set behind the rising cliff of water as the Serendipity drew near the dark ocean face that stretched before the wave as shadow. At the edge of her mind, Merry was conscious of an increasing din coming from the sky but now the sound grew noisy and fiery debris tumbled down into the gloom in front of them, extinguished when the flame hit the water.
When the bow touched the shadow of the tsunami and it seemed all would be momentarily lost (if it hadn"t been a dream, was Merry"s thought) the chaotic scene before them stopped. The landscape was like a photo snapshot catching the action. The wall of water, the shadow making the ocean black before them and the ma.s.sive peaks poking out from the seabed with foamy streams pouring forth like waterfalls, went absolutely still. One meteorite-like UFO was frozen in view where it had hit a protruding rocky peak and deflected off toward the water; the flame, the smoke seemed a camera still shot. Nothing moved but the breath of their voices. Heavenly sounding voices rising and dropping like a divine choir led by an invisible master choir director.
Instantly, the picture before them including the humongous wave opened like a zipper. The sun burst through, shining from the other side as the sloop continued forward into the still panorama. They rode on a crest of an independent mound of sunny water pa.s.sing the silent, still black shadow of death and then, between the walls of the tsunami!
Mouth gaping, Merry watched as the bisected wave allowed them through. She shifted her gaze for a mere moment to see Junior"s expression. Hands gripping tight the handrail before him, Junior had his head thrown back and was singing like a drunken sailor... a holy sailor filled with the new wine. She almost wanted to wake up so she could tell Junior of what she had seen of him in her dream but she resisted.
Looking to Mac, his hand on her arm and a smiling song coming from his lips, Merry then turned again to the valley they were traversing. It was like Moses and the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea with the waters held up on either side of the escaping group. Not remembering that the words were found in the Book of Micah chapter six, Merry thought of G.o.d"s reminder to His people of old: I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of bondage; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
After Israel was delivered, the King of Egypt and his army were destroyed by the imploding waters. A thought erupted in her mind and she turned quickly toward the rear of the sloop. Zeff and Tino were hugging one another like frightened and naughty brothers who had been caught stealing cookies. Beyond the stern, the ocean churned purple and frothed and boiled. Everything was in motion again! The sky, a backdrop of pale blue with red-orange fireb.a.l.l.s cascading from the flitting ships made a surreal scene. As Merry watched mesmerized by the violent picture off the stern, an ominous group of aircraft broke away from the high and heated battle. As one, a dozen or more dropped down heading for the breach in the tsunami wall even as a distinctively different squadron pressed in behind them in chase. The approaching aircraft were much larger than she had originally supposed. As they swooped lower, Merry had the impression that the Serendipity was their targeted goal. A spasm of apprehension knotted in her stomach.
It"s only a dream! She reminded herself but the fear remained. The foremost flying objects looked a lot like pterodactyls as Merry remembered from ill.u.s.trative books and movies. The aircraft following seemed to herd the mechanical pre-historic look-a-likes into the watery chasm formed by the unzipped tsunami. There were two more waves coming behind the first colossal one and these were halved as well. The sloop had ridden through all three without trouble. However, as the enormous strange crafts came tearing through the valley opening in the great waves aiming for the Serendipity, the heaped up sea walls collapsed swallowing the entire airborne troop within a half a mile from where Merry and Mac stood.
The singing trio went silent at this fantastic deliverance.
All was startlingly quiet except the slosh of water against the boat and the m.u.f.fled rumble of the motor.
And then, Junior"s solemn voice, "...The sea returned to normal beneath the morning light. They tried to flee, but the Lord drowned them in the sea. The water covered the path and the chariots and hors.e.m.e.n. And of all the army of Pharaoh that chased after Israel through the sea, not one remained alive. G.o.d"s people were delivered and the waters had been walled up on either side of them."
The sailboat rocked wildly from side to side but the scene behind them was changed. All was calm. There were no pursuing aircraft. The mountaintops that had been protruding from the receding waters were nowhere to be seen. The water was not purple and frothy but a grey-green with a mild swell and white caps, here and there. There were no tsunamis racing for the North African sh.o.r.e. No aircraft in formation...
A myriad of gulls and a lone albatross circled less than a mile behind them.
Merry had been holding her breath as she gripped Mac"s upper arm. Her head began to swim. With Mac"s strong hand continuing to hold her forearm, he helped her as she sat abruptly in the captain"s chair. Closing her eyes, she was overcome with fatigue. She heard Mac shuffling about and then as the sun was blocked, she realized he had erected the sunshade canopy. Dozing off for a minute or more, Merry shot her eyes open. Mac was gone. Looking over her shoulder, Junior was not standing where he had been. She faced the stern but even Zeff and Tino were no where in view.
Down below in the galley, the men were seated about the table. When Merry came through, they quit speaking and in the pause, an excited Merry said, "Junior! I had the craziest dream and you were in it!" Mac shook his head but Junior turned to look at her.
"For reals! Come above decks and I"ll tell you all about it... Grab those chips. I"m hungry," she told him.
Mac interrupted her plans by saying, "He"ll be up as soon as you take your life vest off and stow it along with the others... Step lively, my dear. Step lively."
Chapter 13 Stowaway.
Anna took the hairpin right as per Dale"s grandfather"s instruction. He was reading from Sylvia-the-Innkeeper"s map. Gwyneth had fallen asleep. Bean was awake but quiet as she took notes for her memorable family cookbook; at least, as a great-grandmother she intended it to be unforgettably famous.
The morning was young and Anna thought best and with clarity early in the day. She began to rethink the events of the last few days and then also, the last few months when their travel progressed slowly, almost to a standstill in France. Nothing she had prepped for as a youngster or educated adult, mother or Christian had readied her for the unprecedented situation she found herself in. The stability Anna longed for had been left back in their row home in Philadelphia, along with the unmade bed.
Ah! I was come back to the unmade bed...
The morning that they had flown out to London, Anna"s alarm didn"t go off. But that hadn"t unsettled her... No. Her sister had come over the night before and taken the refrigerator items home with her including the half and half, but even so Anna could live without cream in her morning java if necessary. She had argued with Dale and Gwyneth was fussy with a slight fever and yet, these memories held no regret in Anna"s mind.
Knowing it was unreasonable and borderline obsessive, Anna continued to fret over leaving the bed in disarray.
The eldest of five siblings, at eight years old Anna was the first to learn her ch.o.r.es and to understand the importance of routine. Her parents, both first generation Greeks were frugal people of order and consistency. Making her bed every morning was the first step in stabilizing her day. She couldn"t remember a morning in the past two decades when she had not made the bed before launching into the day.
Why, even the morning I gave birth to Gwennie, I made our bed before leaving for the birthing center, she recalled with an upside-down smile.
Like reading her Bible each morning and then spending time in prayer, making the bed was a consecrated action ranking at the level with moral duty in Anna"s mind.
Dale had hustled her out the back door. The car was packed; Gwennie was in her seat and she was clipping her own seat belt as Dale threw the car into reverse when she remembered. The bed!
Dale had said, "Don"t worry! It"s not the end of the world!" But he was wrong.
After that, everything went to pot: Earthquakes, missile attacks and absolutely useless credit cards.
Now, months later as she wound her way through the back roads of Kerkyra on an exceptionally warm morning with no aircon in the rental car, Anna acknowledged that leaving the bed unmade was not the trigger that had set all the other destabilizing events in motion. Initially, each setback, news report and argument seemed to stem from her leaving the bed in upheaval. She commiserated with Frodo from Tolkien"s trilogy who rushed out the door forgetting his pipe on the first morning of a long journey. The Hobbit"s experience was hers...
Anna reflected on her inner struggles concluding that G.o.d used the bed left messy as a personal object lesson. Slow to change, Anna was not simple minded but she was pragmatic. Yes, making the bed was keystone to routine and balance in her life but not if her schedule excluded interruptions from G.o.d.
Had my life, my lifestyle eliminated G.o.d"s supremacy as Lord or His leadership as Great Shepherd toward me?
Comparing her life now to the rigid routine of her recent past a lifestyle of comfortable consistency, made Anna grimace. She had read once that foolish consistency was the hobgoblin of sound minds. Realizing that she had allowed her strict schedule to press G.o.d"s daily voice from her life, Anna concluded that she had become her own good shepherd.
There wasn"t much opportunity to see sheep or shepherds in action around Philadelphia but she had been to Greece a number of times. Not once did she see sheep alone or running about without restriction whether it be fence or dog or shepherd. Sheep did not shepherd themselves and if let alone, a single sheep was an imminently dead sheep.
Giggling from the now wide awake Gwyneth continued until Anna"s thoughts were thoroughly disrupted.
Grandpa Bernie said excitedly, "There is a street urchin peeping in the back window!"
Gwennie had wiggled free of her seat constraints. She was standing, facing the rear window waving and laughing. Bernie had cinched himself up to take a look at her humorous object when he saw the dust covered face of Guppo.
Pulling over, Anna and Bernie hopped out simultaneously from opposite sides of the car. Anna grabbed at the blurry figure of Guppo as he belatedly tried to make a run for it. Part hair and part ear remained in her grip and he let out a shriek as he struggled. When Bernie grasped the child"s arm, Anna shifted her hold.
She said, "Stop! Stop it! We are not going to hurt you. Hold still..." and other such commanding words in the Greek which caused Guppo to compose himself.
Bean got out from the front seat and came toward them with a package of baby wipes. Anna took one and made a clean circle on Guppo"s face.
Tears sprouted from his eyes when Anna asked, "Aren"t you the boy from last night? You ran to the inn ahead of us so they could prepare for our stay."
He explained that he was the courier and then Guppo told Anna his desire to catch a ride to Avliotes.
Anna translated to Bean and Bernie their conversation. But it was growing hot standing in the sun and the older couple returned to the car.
After wiping him down with half a dozen wet wipes, Anna directed Guppo into the back seat next to Bernie. After some chit-chat between the Greeks, the boy grew silent and fell asleep.
Bean asked Anna for her mother"s Mousaka recipe and Anna patiently recited it as the other took notes. Afterward, Anna nonchalantly described Guppo"s encounter with the motorcyclist from the evening before. She hadn"t finished her tale when two motorcycles flashed by going in the other direction.
Guppo sat up, swiveling his head to watch the dust clouds behind them. He shouted at Anna and she shouted back. The boy opened the door and would have jumped from the moving vehicle if she hadn"t told him hotly that she would pull over.
Guppo wretched free from Bernie"s hold and ran from the slowing rental car. Mr Adams trotted after him the moment the car stopped.
Bean asked, "Well, what was that all about?"
"He was yelling that the man on the motorcycle would kill him if he caught him," Anna said nervously.
"Really! Who was the man? And why would he want to harm a child?" Bean inquired, hoping to understand more of the unraveling mystery. She set her reading gla.s.ses aside and with resignation, placed her recipe notebook in the glove box.
Anna opened her door. She said, "I think they must be part of the New Dawn group and the boy misled them. He lied to them... about us."
Sleek cafe motorbikes with men dressed in black leathers came screeching to a dusty halt in front of the car. Gwennie started wailing. She had been asking for water for some minutes but everyone had ignored her in the confusion of Guppo"s exit.
Anna handed the baby bag off to Bean and then turned to find a short thickset man standing intimidatingly near her.
In fluent Greek, she said, "h.e.l.lo there! We"ve been waiting for you!"
Chapter 14 Karlo.
Bernie came puffing and limping back, only to find a couple of shiny black motorcycles parked next to the rental car. Bean"s window was down and Gwyneth was climbing about the backseat singing a World War Two cadence that her great-grandfather taught her.
"Coffee in the arm-y... say its mighty fine but to me and my bud-dy... taste like iodine! Ohhh, Mommy I don"t want to go but I have too-ooo..." she wailed happily indifferent to all that was happening around her.
Nearby, standing in the shade of a busy cypress tree, Anna stood talking with two men dressed in black. When Anna"s eyes shifted to the approaching Mr Adams, the motorcyclists wheeled about to face him.
Speaking Greek, the stocky, shorter man who was simply called Karlo by his fellow agents asked Anna about the elderly man as Bernie drew near. She told him that he and his wife were traveling with her and the baby.
Karlo said, "Ask the old man where he hid the boy."
Anna nodded and then said to Mr Adams, "He wants to know where you hid the boy."
Clutching his side as he had a st.i.tch from trotting after Guppo who easily outdistanced him, Bernie replied,, "Anna, you know! I didn"t hide him! The little chimp ran off."
Anna told the men that Mr Adams had run after the boy but the short spokesman responded, "He lies. Americans are such liars. Ask him again. Where did he hide the child?"
So she asked again. Bernie said, "What a jackanapes... Tell him to go jump in a lake. No, don"t tell him that but ask him if he is a Frenchman..."
Hesitant, Anna interpreted the old man"s question.
Karlo nodded toward Bernie and said, "Yes, on my father"s side although I never learned the language. And how did you know I was French?"
Bernie was saying, "Yes, he is! I knew it! Yes, he is!" but Anna was redirecting the conversation to keep Bernie and all of them from further complications.
"As you see, he gets very excited... He loves the French meals... bouillabaisse and all that. We may be traveling through France on our way to Britain as we have friends in the UK," she said hoping to derail an impending conflict.
Bernie decided to take the conversation into his own sphere and in French he said, "You jackanapes, go take a dive into a lake!" He laughed and then repeated his insult before Anna could explain to Bernie that they did not speak French although the tough, short one had a French father. Bernie, disgusted at this bit of information, turned back to the car. In the meantime, Anna was left to explain.
Improvising, Anna said, "It seems he is very excited about the prospect of eating French food and it has worn him out. He is going to take an afternoon nap."
The men laughed.
Bernie looked back and sneered at them but they took no notice.
Bean told her ex-husband, "They looked through the car. I was so relieved we left that bogus carry-on bag at the bed "n breakfast." She held her booklet, Great Tips and Diverting Trivia in her left hand and a pen in right. "You haven"t lost your touch, Berlin Billie. I really don"t know what those two scoundrels would have done to us if they had found that bag... They said they were looking for the boy but surely, he is too large to be hiding in our suitcases!"
"They searched the car?" he asked with a shake of his head.
Bean nodded.
Bernie said, "The thickset one is a frog! He couldn"t find a noodle on a plate of pasta."
Gwyneth had mellowed her song to a hum but when Grandpa spoke of pasta she stopped and climbed into her car seat to look longingly toward her mother. Her tummy and thoughts were distracted when her cushioned seat began to buzz.
Chapter 15 A Stone"s Throw.
Late morning sunlight pushed through the shuttered windows above the sink revealing an empty kitchen. Everyone was gone, including the dogs. A half loaf of bread and a wedge of white cheese were on the table.