The Village Idiots: Part 3 - Plain Sailing by Sara Alexi

Author:Sara Alexi [Alexi, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

The next morning, Spiros leaps out of bed before the sky has even started to lighten, and he dresses hurriedly – not because he wants to avoid Takis, although he would rather avoid him if possible, but because he cannot wait to get to Aleko’s yard to work on the boat. The new engine should be here today, and that means more winching, finding the right tools for Aleko and learning new skills.

He arrives so early at the yard that the shutters are still closed and the house is silent, but he doesn’t mind. Feeling it might be impolite to make himself at home on someone else’s property, he waits on the road, shuffling from foot to foot.

The morning light slowly creeps into the sky, and a cockerel announces the arrival of a new day. Then the dogs stir and start their chorus, which echoes around the village, and finally the cicadas, which were silent only briefly, when the temperature fell just before dawn, start up their rasping again. Spiros wonders if their song has a meaning to it: words that convey some message.

He is contemplating this when the dull clunking of goat bells is added to the morning’s symphony, and he looks down the road in the direction of the square to see the animals coming up towards him. They are packed tightly together, a patchy mass of brown, black and white that seems to flow up the road as one body. Spiros watches them pass, noting that some stop to munch on the weeds by the side of the road, then become spooked and rush off to join the pack again, whilst others plod steadily on, keeping pace with the herd. The music of their bells is a delight to his ears, and he stretches his arms up, yawning and easing out the tension in the morning sunshine.

‘Morning!’ It is Mitsos, who is following some way behind the herd of goats. ‘I haven’t seen you around for a while – where have you been hiding?’

He stops to lean on his shepherd’s crook. The animals continue on their way, disappearing around a corner a little way up the road.

Spiros points to the boat. ‘The new engine arrives today,’ he says, unable to conceal his excitement, and he feels his stomach turn over with the anticipation.

‘Ah! George would be so pleased.’ Mitsos looks up at the boat, scratches his chin.

Spiros fondles the tube of mints in his pocket. He wonders if he will ever eat them now; there’s something comforting about having them in his pocket.

‘Stella’s guests loved going out with him on the yacht.’ Mitsos’s eyes go a little bit glassy as he says his wife’s name, his love evident. Spiros wonders if his own eyes go like that when he talks about his mama, or about animals. He feels they might.

‘Well, I’d better catch the goats up before they get into someone’s vegetable garden. Let me know if you have time to take them out yourself one of these days.

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