Desperado Dale (Scenic Route to Paradise) (18 page)

“Merriweather? You’re Merry’s brother, Dale?
We’re looking for you!” spouted Junior none too quietly.

“Merry? Merry, my kid sister? So the guy from
D’Almata sent you knocking? Tina was right! We’ll talk later. Right now I need
to get Tina and these babes away from the New Dawn terrorists… That’s what they
are!” Dale whispered fiercely.

Junior told Dale about Zeff. Dale told the girl
to get dressed and if possible to escape to the neighbors’ through the window
with the children.

Junior said, “I’ll come back and help you.” Then
he turned and led Dale back to Zeff.

Twice, Zeff had seen people inside crossing in
front of the windows. From his position he was sure there was some sort of
argument or domestic dispute unfolding in the house. He thought to move closer
to have a better view but his common sense told him to await Junior’s return.
Shadowy movement caught Zeff’s eye. When the figures were silhouetted in front
of the house widows, he saw that it was Junior and another man. A moment later and
they were with him behind the wooden barrels.

“Here is my friend Zeff,” Junior said to Dale by
way of introduction as they squatted. “Zeff, this is Merry’s brother, Dale! God
answered your prayers!” Junior said excitedly.

Zeff’s face could not be seen as the morning was
still more than an hour away. He was astonished. He coughed and then said,
“Yes, God is all about answering prayers.” He stuck out his hand in the dark
and grasped Dale’s. “I’m Zeff Zeferano. You’re Dale Merriweather,” he said.
Dale shook his hand.

Dale said, “Everyone seems to know all about me.
But Zeff, you’re Tina’s friend. She told my wife Anna all about you.” And then
he added, “She has been moping around every since she lost internet connection
from you.” Astonishment hit Zeff again. He rubbed the back of his neck
wondering about Tina the gordita “trapped within a very athletic body.”

Zeff whistled to release the building mental
confusion of what Merry’s description of Tina could possibly mean. He said,
“Ok. Now what? Mac has a boat waiting for us in less than 24 hours. You have a
wife and baby, some grandparents? Can we organize ourselves to be at the beach
by then?”

Dale said, “There has been some shifting about
in our plans but yes, I think we can get to the beach by
midnight
. The snag is the New
Dawn bullies.” The door opened and closed across the street. A muscular man in
black walked in front of the windows towards the motorcycles. His dim figure
blended with the pervading gloom but then he lit a cigarette.

“The scum! That’s Karlo. He is sadistic!”
whispered Dale.

The door opened again and a woman stood for a
moment in the light. Closing the door, she crossed to Karlo.

“Look. I’ve changed my mind. Tell your boys to
leave the children alone and I will go with you,” her shrill voice carried
across to the hiding men. They could hear his sniggering in response but not
his words.

Junior shot out from the barrels before the
older men could stop him. He disappeared behind the side of the house. Karlo
didn’t see him.

Zeff and Dale watched him go but then the woman
was speaking again, “Tell them to quit… Go in and tell them!”

Dale said tensely, “That’s Tina my wife’s
cousin.”

Zeff started up but Dale grabbed at his arm.
“Wait! Let’s get a plan. These guys are all over the island and there are three
more with Karlo up the road in Avliotes.”

“What then? What will we do?” Zeff didn’t take
his eyes from Karlo and Tina. Dale had been putting a plan together with Tina
and his grandfather and also, Sam when the motorcycles arrived some hours
earlier. So their planning changed. They had left Tina but Dale watching the
orphanage saw Junior’s arrival. The modified plan had Sam and Bernie toying
with the café bikes. Dale wondered if their task was finished.

Again the front door swung open and two men came
out dragging Junior with them.

“Crap!” Dale spit out but Zeff cursed in
Spanish.

There was laughter and the agents returned
inside pushing Junior before them. Tina followed slowly behind. When she turned
to shut the door, Dale stood up and waved.

Seeing her hesitate, Zeff said, “She saw you.”

The eastern sky was beginning to lighten. The
morning star looked like an eyepiece to heaven, beckoning the observer forward
to take a look.

“I’m going to find my cohorts,” Dale said. “You
position yourself under the front window there. Give me about ten minutes, or
fifteen. You’ve arrived just in time! We’ve worked out a little scenario that
will fix Karlo and get the rest of his men off our backs for a while.”

Zeff agreed and headed across the street in the
gloom to fold himself under the flowering window boxes. Junior’s squeals of
pain and Tina’s protests were enough to drive his head up. Zeff peered between
the geraniums. Only six or seven inches from the window, Karlo stood with his
back to Zeff.

Dropping down, Zeff calculated and prayed and
then poked his head above the flowers once again. He tapped on the window. The
others busy with the terrified Junior missed Karlo’s look of confusion. Hearing
the tap again he turned to see the top of Zeff’s head disappearing below the
red and fuchsia colored flowers.

Zeff waited to hear the door open before slowly
pulling his foot around the corner where the bikes were parked.

I bait him...
Zeff smirked and waited.

Karlo took the bait and seeing a leg withdraw
behind the corner of the house he went forward aggressively to investigate.

“You like to torment women and children?” Zeff
asked in Spanish as his fist flew into Karlo’s face. “Si? Me, I like to torment
you, little girl!” Karlo was taken by complete surprise and fell in a heap;
knocked out cold.

Trying to get a reaction, Zeff pushed Karlo with
his shoe as Dale came running up. The pre-dawn gloom showed no response from
Zeff’s victim.

Dale looking at Karlo’s bloodied lip said, “I
thought you were going to wait? Anyway, get lost. The other two will be coming
out in a minute… No, here they come!” Dale grabbed Zeff who wrenched away to
spit on Karlo but then turning followed slowly after Dale who jumped a stone
wall that enclosed the garden. The men rounded the corner and would have seen
Zeff had they been attentive as he ducked with slow deliberation.

“Get up! Get up!” Karlo’s companions were
saying. They pulled him up not seeming to understand he had been accosted.
Yammering about something, the men secured their helmets and then got on their
racers leaving with dust and dirt and noise in their wake.

Watching as Karlo shook clear his head to follow
the other two through the village, Dale said, “They got an important message
that
the
American had been seen leaving Avliotes this morning and so
there they go!”

“
The
American?” asked Zeff as they hopped
the wall.

“I’m
the
American. You and my sister,
Merry were not the only ones looking for me!” Dale informed him.

Hurrying inside, the front room was filling with
the others, including Bernie, Anna and Nerah, the young dark beauty that Junior
had spoke with earlier. Sam and Tina came through the hallway together as Zeff
and Dale raced through the front door. Zeff eyed Sam jealously but went to
Tina.

“Are you all right?” he asked in Spanish and
then due to her confused look, he asked again in English.

“Zeff? You cannot be Zeff!” she said
incredulously.

“He is Zeff and he just knocked the lights out
of Karlo,” announced Dale and then he eyed Zeff.  “If I hadn’t showed up
you would have ruined our efforts for duping these thugs,” he told him.

Chapter 30  Wedding Feast

Mac and Merry wiled away their day exploring a
small island north of Kerkyra. Merry had been taken aback when two men
approached them and drew Mac a side, to confer. The meeting had not been
planned but Mac explained later that the men were from D’Almata. When they
returned to the sloop, a message awaited. Merry was weary from climbing about
the near deserted rock called, Diaplo. Responding lethargically to Tino’s news,
she tossed her cap aside and followed Mac to read the note.

Mac had received news from his nation over the
last few months by the old method of talking with other travelers, the usual
sea ports and twice messages had anticipated him when he checked in at the
places he typically visited on past travels. For his part, Mac had sent
messages ahead of their journey by way of seafarers traveling to D’Almata or
beyond. It was an old fashion and many times unreliable process of
communication but it was the default method used by sailors for millennium.

The missive arrived via text at the sloop
monitoring station. Dale’s mother… Merry’s mother, Toni was the writer. In
almost six months this note was only the second communiqué coming directly from
Toni Merriweather. Apparently, Mac’s approximate time-of-arrival notes had made
it to D’Almata. Toni wrote:

Hurry home! Wedding feast begins
Saturday!

“Well, that is informative,” Mac had said after
Tino showed them the text. Merry looked at him with a questioning crease upon
her forehead.

“I like your mother!” he said enthusiastically.
“She is a woman of simple words. You know she was the first to attempt breaking
through my spiritual fortress when she took time to tell me about the Bible and
God’s salvation.” Mac lifted Merry and set her in the swivel chair at the helm.
He said, “I always knew that D’Almatans were superior in every way including
religion. Our gods – all twelve of them were exceptional and so, I rejected
Toni’s opinion before she even began speaking but speak she did!” Tino stood on
the other side of Merry, trying not to listen and yet, he sensed he was much
like Mac had been before conversion. Mac was chuckling as he remembered Toni’s
gentle efforts to share her own testimony.

Diverted by Mac’s reminiscing, Merry said,
“Twelve gods! I didn’t know anyone continued to worship the mythological Greek
gods but the people of D’Almata do?”

Mac looked at her as if she had three nostrils.
He replied, “
Greek
gods? You shouldn’t believe everything you read in
the Greek newspaper! The Greeks came late to that religious game! They didn’t
and still don’t have a monopoly on the ancient ones.”

“Mac, I never did read a Greek newspaper and we
weren’t big on studying mythology,” Merry retorted. “Please, admit at the very
least, the Greeks made Zeus and his heavenly associates popular.”

Mac let out a burst of mocking laughter. “Greeks
are opportunists – I should know!” he said with a hint of admiration. “True,
they penned the facts, somewhat poetically – So my sweet, I’ll concede. Still,
according to your scriptures – our scriptures,
before
Greek civilization
arose, the old gods were already creating mischief and mayhem.”

Merry and eavesdropping Tino said
simultaneously, “What?”

Mac’s eyebrows and lips went up. He said, “Yes,
we discussed it in our Bible study off
Madagascar
. And then again, when we kept seeing the UFOs
north of
St
Helena
. And
you two? Where were you…? Tino, I remember you asking questions after our
tsunami confrontation!”

Tino drew a blank but Merry said, “Mac. You mean
when we talked about the sons of god coming down and procreating with the
daughters of men from Genesis? You can’t be serious? That account is linked to
the mythological gods?”

“Whoa! I remember now. You said the UFO activity
is the modern day version of Genesis chapter six. Oh? The fallen angels are
portraying themselves as aliens from another solar system. But back in the
Bible days, before Noah’s flood, they impersonated God, Himself and were called
Zeus and Apollo and all those mythological guys?” exclaimed Tino while
wondering if it were true.

Mac nodded in agreement. He said, “Something
like that. The New Testament says those specific fallen angels left their first
estate. Meaning, they somehow stepped out of the angelic realm taking on an
earthly physical role. The flood not only judged humans but the angels’
offspring… the giants and men of renown. As for the fallen angelic beings, they
are being held ‘under darkness’ until a final judgment when the rest of the
fallen heavenly host will be judged, including Lucifer.”

The three were quiet. Thinking, puzzling and
looking toward the Kerkyrian coast. Tino had pointed the bow toward the
‘backdoor’ once again.

If all went well, the
Serendipity
would
be plying the waters of the
Adriatic
by sunrise tomorrow. Sometime after
midnight
, Mac hoped to pick up
Merry’s family so they could make a beeline for D’Almata. It would be a crowded
but short trip – no more than two days. He was ready to return to the familiar
although reluctant too as his original six day jaunt turned six month escapade
was coming to a close. He was returning to D’Almata a changed man… a better man
but a very different D’Almatan than the one who had left on an insignificant
errand last spring.