The Island's Island

By Pat Taylor Ellison

An only child, together with her two long-time friends, another ten-year old girl and her twelve-year old brother, defy their parents and set off on an exploration that traps them in a dangerous place and throws them upon the hospitality of two strangers and their own wits and perseverance to return safely. Death is always near and claims a fairly predictable victim in the end.

Ten year old Lilly Ariadne’s family and Iason and Lydia Diamondes’ family have been vacationing on the island of Thalassos for many summers. This summer is no exception. Lilly’s American teacher-for-a-year, Petra, joins them. On a tiny island off the main island, where the children and generations before them have always played, the three children accidentally discover a new and dangerous place: a tunnel. As they explore the tunnel, they are suddenly prevented from getting back home by the closing of a giant stone door. They must continue down the tunnel and come out in a wild area where strange soldiers capture 12-year old Iason and keep him overnight. The two 10-year old girls must avoid capture, find food, and figure out a way to get back. The search for the children is complicated by a partial cave-in of the tunnel, and one parent is injured. The children and the teacher rescue the parent and come out safe, mostly...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pat Taylor Ellison
• Release date: Mar 29, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452496962

Pat Taylor Ellison

About the authorDr. Pat Taylor Ellison is a teacher, researcher, and consultant in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, where she has lived for her whole life (except for a year and a half, when she lived in Paris, France , and Thessaloniki, Greece). She lives with her husband and their dog and cat, not too far away from their daughter and her husband and their tiny white dog.Besides her Pethia novels, she has written two English grammar textbooks and co-authored several books about church life at Church Innovations with Patrick Keifert: Growing Healthier Congregations, Talking About Our Faith, and Dwelling in the Word.

Book preview

The Island’s Island

By Pat Taylor Ellison

Copyright 2011 Pat Taylor Ellison

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

The Island’s Island

***

The Stone Door

I was the face of a mountain

Each morning I watched the sun rise over the blue sea

Each night I watched those waves as the darkness grew deep

Sea eagles flew over me, crying

Voices echoed from me back to the surf below.

Then the great rumbling and roaring

The mountain cracked and I fell

Down and down

One smooth slab upon the shore.

I lay there until they found me

They liked me

They placed me upon rollers to pull me along

Up and over things

Amongst mighty trees

Suddenly into the dark

Now I let some pass

But not all

The Island’s Island

***

Chapter 1

Whooo-ahhh! The ferryboat horn wailed. And I don’t have to tell you that when a loud horn blows, everyone reacts. Lilly Ariadne shrieked. Then she laughed, because the person beside her, her beloved teacher Petra, had jumped several inches off the ground at the sound. Lilly’s blue eyes danced and her brown braids bobbed.

Petra, I didn’t know you could jump so high!

Wow, that was loud! Petra said, her eyebrows raised high on her startled freckled face. Will it blow again?

And no sooner had the words left Petra’s mouth than the horn blew again. This time they just laughed. Somewhere a baby was crying, frightened awake from a nap. Lilly and Petra leaned on the ferry’s rail and looked out over the sea toward the island of Thalassos.

Lilly always said that she could remember all ten of her summer visits to Thalassos, one for every year of her life. Her mother doubted this, but Lilly insisted. She knew by heart the two-hour car ride to the port of Agios Nikolaos, the ferryboat ride to the island, and the long days of play at the place called Aspriammos, which means white sands, with her friends, Iason and Lydia Diamondes. They lived here in the port town on the mainland and stayed on Thalassos every summer. Lydia and Lilly were the same age, pen pals, best friends, and Iason was the older brother who teased and annoyed them.

They had always been playmates on Thalassos as they browned under the Greek sun, swimming in the sea and exploring Aspriammos. This year Lilly’s family would arrive a day or two earlier than the Diamondes family, which might have been boring for Lilly, even on the ferry ride, if it had not been for Petra, who was new to Greece, So of course she knew nothing about Thalassos.

Petra, I can’t wait to show you Aspriammos, said Lilly, her eyes sparkling as the ferry pulled out of the harbor town and into the blue Aegean Sea. And I can’t wait until Lydia and Iason get there. Petra, you’ll like them and we’ll have so much fun together! Lilly was practically dancing with glee.

Lilly’s parents, Maria and Loukas, now stood behind them at the rail. Lillimou, said her mother, You have to let Petra have a little vacation, too. She has been working pretty hard, teaching classes at the school and giving you lessons every day. She may want to just sit around on the beach, you know.

I know that, Mama, said Lilly, pouting as Mama warned her like this in front of Petra. But won’t it be fun to explore, too, and show her the acropolis and the little church? She looked up at her father and reached out for his hand.

Yes it will, Lillimou, said her father, taking her hand and smiling.

And Papa, asked Lilly, noticing her father’s mellow tone of voice, her one eyebrow going up, when we get home, can we get a dog then?

Oh, Lilly, said her mother, give that subject a rest for this week, will you please?

But Mama… Lilly turned to face her mother squarely.

Lillika… said her father with a pleading tone.

Mama. Why can’t I get a dog? Her piercing blue eyes pleaded with her mother’s brown ones.

Ah, Lillika, because we don’t have room for a dog. Maria was staring out over the sea, tired of this subject. It was Lilly’ favorite subject.

Aha! Mama, it would be only a small dog. One like Grandmother’s little dog, Persa.

No, Lillymou, said Mama softly but firmly, still staring out to sea.

But Mama, Lilly said, reaching for he mother’s hand, really, he would take up just such a tiny place in my room and he could sleep in my bed with me, Mama.

No, Lilly. And he won’t sleep in your bed with you. That is not a good idea. Mama was looking directly at Lilly now. Mama was a doctor, and she had very definite ideas about where animals should sleep, not at all like the ideas you or I or Lilly might have.

Mama. Look. I would take care of him and take him outside for walks and …

Lillikaikimou, please. No.

The more her parents loved her (or were annoyed by her), the longer Lilly’s name got. Her name was really Evangelia, just like her grandmother. Now, in our language we try to make a nickname out of the beginning of a person’s name. We might call a girl named Evangelia Evvie for short. But in Greece, many people take the ending of their name as a nickname. So people named Evangelia became Lia or Lilly, and Lilly had been Lilly’s name since the time she could walk.

Now we usually take a nickname and just leave it at that: Freddie from Frederick, Al from Alexander or even Lilly from Evangelia. But Greeks get very creative with names, adding special endings to them: Lilly-mou meant my Lilly, and Lilly-ka and Lilly-kaiki were ways of saying my little Lilly or my sweet, tiny Lilly. In Greek, even if you are very large, the more loved you are, the tinier you would be called and the longer your name would become. I once knew a man who was very large indeed, twice the size of most people, and his younger and much smaller brother referred to him as Poulaikimou, my little tiny bird.

No one loved Lilly more than her parents. She was their only child, and she was, as only children often are, very good at speaking her mind and even better at making a case for what she wanted. She was generally obedient (if you didn’t mind a little argument first), but she did growl when things did not go her way.

Grrrr. The conversation about the dog came to a sudden halt. No one spoke for awhile.

Petra said, Lillimou, tell me what Aspriammos is like. When we get into the port on the island, how far will it be to drive there? Lilly didn’t answer, looking out at the sea instead, with her arms folded. Petra tried again. Will you show me everything?

Lilly knew that Petra was trying to change the subject away from the dog. She looked at Petra, about to growl, her lips curled up on one side. But Petra was looking out toward Thalassos, her eyes wide with anticipation. She turned back toward Lilly, her face full of eagerness and her American smile wide.

Oh, of course I will, Petroulamou, Lilly said, deciding not to growl and putting her arm around Petra’s waist. I will take you to the bungalows, to the dining room, to the beach umbrella shed, to the place on the beach where we look for shells, and to the little island, of course. Did you know that the little island at Aspriammos is my island?

You have your own island? Petra asked, sitting down on a railside bench so that her eyes were even with Lilly’s.

Yes, Papa gave it to me when I was five, she said proudly, and she ran her hand across Petra’s bobbed blond hair. Lilly loved that silky fine fair hair.

Well, said Petra, I had no idea you had an island!

Wait until you see it. You will love it, predicted Lilly.

Lilly, said Mama, I am very thirsty. Do you want to see whether we can buy something to drink at the snack bar? She stretched her graceful tanned hand out to her daughter.

Yes! Lilly agreed, and she took her mother’s hand and they walked off down the deck.

Petra looked to the north and east along the Greek coastline. She could see an impressive range of mountains that began to the east of the port they were leaving and rose in layers higher and higher behind them. What are those mountains called? she asked Papa, entranced.

Those are the Blue Mountains. They once belonged to Greece, but years ago they were given away to other lands, along with the whole eastern coast of the Aegean Sea. And in those mountains, always strange things have happened. There are people living in that area today who keep away from towns with other people, who believe that their mission is to control the world. They seem to be willing to both kill and die. It is a wild place where Greeks do not like to travel because we are not safe there. Probably no one is.

Isn’t it strange that one minute a view can look inviting and, after someone tells a story like that, you feel as though you are nearing danger? Suddenly the mountains looked ominous to Petra, and she shuddered. But surely the people there cannot be not as bad as all that, Petra said, looking for a brighter side.

"Now and again large supplies of weapons have been discovered there, buried underground. You read about it