had been sailing south for several hours and had gently turned to the east so that his sisters would not be disturbed by the change in direction. Shortly after setting off he had to lower the sails because the wind was threatening to blow. He had overcome the reefs of the cove and knew that Andreas would not be able to follow them. It would take hours to mend his sails and he had no oars to reach them. He cast his mind back to that morning when the he jumped onto the boat floor. He smiled with melancholy. He recalled his father talking to him cheerfully while he controlled the tiller with an accurate course to the cove. He felt his arm falter at the helm and grabbed it more forcefully. He would get to Kos, bring his siblings to safety and then, though he didn't know how, make Andreas pay for his betrayal. He didn't know if his uncle would welcome them, but he didn't too much care. If their uncle didn't want them with him, so be it. They had the boat, and he knew how to fish, they would get by. He lifted his eyes to heaven, imploring the protection of the gods.
III
After midnight, dense clouds hid the moon and darkness had taken over the immensity of the sea. Almices had no visual reference to follow his course. He began to doubt his ability to fulfil the trip he had proposed to his siblings. He clearly lacked the experience to be able to pilot the boat in these conditions, he was simply led by his intuition. He went almost an hour without seeing any stars to confirm the course. The wind had not increased; but since they had left the canal, formed between the island of Samos and the continent, the waves were more intense. The waves constantly splashed onto the deck and at times the crossing felt eternal. Telma was soaked and now sitting next to her sisters. Nerisa was still scared but nevertheless tried to console Janira, who had woken and not stopped crying or calling for her mother. Almices cursed himself for the course he had chosen. Instead of going directly east to the nearby continent, he went south to mislead both his neighbour and the Romans in case they had a ship in the other bay. Now he did not know how far they were from the continent, which on clear days was perfectly visible from Samos. He knew that the island of Kos was south of Samos, and therefore it was very difficult for them to get lost. The route he had traced with his father on his journey to the island had followed the coast of the continent to another stretch of it that almost reached Kos. Finally, they got their wish. The clouds parted to reveal the light of the moon. Almices scanned the horizon of dwindling darkness in search of a reference point that might lead back to a good path. Suddenly the boat turned sharply, it’s course marred by a wave. Telma, startled, grabbed the mast and the little ones grabbed her.
"Almices! What are you doing?” Nerisa yelled.
"I'm sorry," her brother apologized, rectifying the course. “We have land in front of us, but it’s too soon to be Kos or the continent.”
"Don't you know where we are?” The question made Almices nervous. The boy tried to remember the other fishermen’s descriptions of the nearby islands.
"I suppose it may be the island of Agathonisi. I have never been there with father. If so, we are on the right track; although it is a dangerous area, with many small islets around and we could get grounded. Better if we stay away from the coast and wait until dawn.”
"How far are we from Kos?”
“If this is the island I'm talking about, we still have a whole day's journey ahead, ahead, maybe more. We cannot continue toward her right now. We must keep our distance, so we do not run into trouble. I hope that the storm will subside and, if the clouds clear a little more, I might know for sure the direction I should take. Rest a little. Poseidon will soon call a truce.”
The dawn was long in coming. The girls remained quiet. Nerisa was no longer sure about being a fisherman; she did not think the sea was romantic any more. Telma, discomposed by the swaying of the boat, kept her eyes closed praying to herself. Janira had finally fallen asleep from pure exhaustion. Almices, tired of fighting the sea, struggled to keep the boat away from the coast. The storm had passed at last. He thanked the gods and stood on the bow of the ship. Now he could see the irregular coast of the island through the breaking light of dawn. He spotted several islets. It had to be Agathonisi. He rinsed his face and raised the sail to catch the wind. Soon the boat recovered its course.
At noon, the continental coast was once again on the horizon and the boy changed his course to the south. Fortunately, there was no trace of Andreas or the Romans. No doubt they had been misled. They had deviated from their initial course, but had now recovered it. The bad thing was that the clouds had reformed, threatening a storm similar to the night before. Although the girls had eaten, they were not feeling well. The lack of sailing experience had left them with seasickness that they could not shake.
The sun was setting when a strong wind rose that forced Almices to retract the entire sail. Telma and the young man started to row. The waves were heavy and soon it began to pour. When they looked out to sea, the sky looked like a watery mantle. Almices was determined to get closer to the coast. He didn't want to risk being approached by an unknown ship. The area was famous for pirates, but the risk from the sea was greater. The storm threatened to be much more intense than the night before.
The afternoon passed and the storm continued to grow. The boat was not far from the coast. Almices did not want to risk getting closer for fear of the rocks. Then they suffered a tremendous blow that sounded in their ears like a scraping moan.
"What happened?” Telma stood up hugging her sisters forcefully. The young man took a quick look at the deck.
"We have a leak.” Almices rose quickly to try to plug the gap that had formed in the bow. It wasn't a big hole, but the water was already threatening to flood the boat. They wouldn't get far if they didn't plug it. The little ones cried again, and the tension gripped them all.
"Can I help you?” Telma had stopped rowing to reassure her sisters and then approached the bow.
"Pass me the pitch and hemp. They are down there.” He pointed to a pine box wedged under one of the banks.
Telma was surprised at her brother's ability to solve the unexpected problem. They fixed the leak, but the storm was still raging, and they nervously discovered that Telma's neglected oar had disappeared, taken by the sea. With just one oar, guiding the ship in the middle of the ocean was a near-impossible mission. Almices decided to lift the sail, just by a third to use wind and thus guide the boat through the hectic waters.
The day gave way to the night and the wind accelerated. The momentum of the boat, even with so little sailing space, gave it an unmeasured speed. The hole was still leaking, but was not a concern at the moment. Almices calculated that, at that speed, they would arrive at Kos before dawn. The sail was being forced to its limits and he kept his eyes constantly fixed on it. The ties he had made to keep only part of the sail unfolded were loosened without warning and the entire sail suddenly inflated. The ship swung sharply toward the bow and the mast gave a dry roar. The children looked up. They saw that the sail had torn and was fluttering violently. The ship drifted through the strong waves. The four of them hugged each other, praying for the mast to withstand and to avoid the coastal breakers. Almices mustered some courage and tried to lower the rickety sail with the intention of repairing it. His efforts were fruitless, and he realized that it was impossible in the midst of the storm. With dusk they lost the reference of the coast. The boat was now carried by the whims of the waves and soon Almices did not know where the storm was pushing them.
Dawn surprised the Theopoulos boat. It had been a long, tense night in which they had finally fallen asleep one after the other. Telma was the first to wake and she checked quietly that all four were still on board. Despite some damage, the ship had endured the storm. She looked up at the remnants of the sail, then turned to look at the horizon. There was no land in sight. She was concerned, so woke her brother.
"Brother, wake up," she put her hand gently on his shoulder.
