Catching Moonlight (Man Season) (6 page)

“Oh, wow! I hadn’t thought of that!
It can’t be real; to be descended from someone I’ve read about in mythology
books!”

“But it is! Gregory traced his
lineage back thousands of years, mainly because this temple held records etched
in stone. I helped him.”

“It’s odd he didn’t reveal that to
the media. Most people would jump at the chance to let the world know they’re
the offspring of the gods!”

“He wasn’t like that. No one in these
families is. They know they must keep the secrets of the sorcerers. If they
fell into the wrong hands the secrets could destroy the world!”

“Was Gregory a sorcerer?”

“He could work his powers, yes, but
he only used them to make wealth for his family, and to keep the island safe,
for me.”

“Could I learn to work these powers?”

“I think you could. He didn’t know
very much when he started. He was young then, and had gotten into trouble with
the law. After he came home he promised me he would do what he could to help
me. He said being locked up in jail gave him an idea of what my existence was
like.”

“A fraction of it, maybe.
But I’m glad he straightened out his
life. I only wish he could have come for me and my mother. Then I could’ve
grown up here, near you.”

“It wasn’t meant to be. But you’re
here now. And I will help you learn to control your powers. I was thinking
maybe we should tell
Aella
and Kosmas about us, too.
Then you could live here in my room; unless you prefer your bedroom in the
house.
Aella
said it was beautiful.”

“I prefer to be here, in your bed;
it’s much cozier.”

He smiled, grabbed her for a kiss.

Toby washed up in
Dio’s
small blue-tiled bath then reluctantly left him. The morning air was crisp and
bright as she hiked through the olive grove, passed the hungry goats and inched
her way up the stairs to her bedroom. She thought to call her mother but the
time difference meant Lauren would still be asleep. She busied herself by
packing her clothes then she decided to leave most of them there for
appearances’ sake. If anyone should suspect she was living in the temple they
might discover
Dio
.

The phone rang.

“Could you answer that, Toby?”
Aella
shouted. “I’m up to my elbows in pastry!”

“Sure!” She picked up the receiver.
“Hello?”

“Toby, it’s me, Stephan. I want to
make up to you for what I did. Please let me come there this morning. I couldn’t
sleep. I could only think about what a fool I am.”

“I don’t see what coming here will
do. I said it was okay.”

“I know but I must make things right.
Please.”

“No, I don’t want you here. I can’t
make it any plainer that that. Goodbye, Stephan.”

She hung up. Fear rose up in her
chest, made breathing difficult. Maybe she should have let him come over but
she was so weary of the man. And she didn’t trust him. He knew more about
Dio
than he was letting on. What if he decided to use that
knowledge to make the money he desperately wanted?

“Kosmas, I need to tell you
something,” she muttered at breakfast.

“What is it, child? You sound much
too serious.”

“It is serious. Last night I couldn’t
sleep so I went for a walk very late. Stephan showed up. He said he’s been
coming to the island at night, looking for artifacts to sell. But I’m afraid
there’s more to it.”

Aella
and Kosmas both gasped.

“Did he hurt you, child?”

“No,
Dio
fought with him, and he left.”

“Why didn’t you call the police?”
Kosmas asked.

“He seemed … I’m not sure how to put
it … but he was like a broken man. I didn’t think he really meant to harm
anyone. And
Dio
knew about his trips here. Stephan
said Gregory didn’t mind his taking things to sell.”

“Gregory would not condone stealing;
especially from his own island. It was foolish of you to believe that, Toby.”

“I realize that now,
Aella
. He called this morning, wanting to come over and
make it up to me. I have to tell you I’m a bit afraid of what he might do
next.”

Kosmas stood, wiped his mustache with
a napkin. “I will call my friend Constantine. He is the lawman in the village
on the next island. He will know what to do!”

“Oh, but I don’t want cops sniffing
around. They might find out about
Dio
!”

They both looked at her with
suspicious eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“You both know what I mean,
Aella
. We don’t want people learning the truth about him.”

Aella
began to cry. Kosmas patted her
back.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to upset
you. But
Dio
is very precious to all of us. We can’t
take a chance when it comes to his safety.”

“People have come before. His chamber
is very well hidden. And no one knows about him.”

“Stephan knows. And he said a lot of
women, whole generations of them round here, have seen the
moonboy
.”

“Sure, it’s a legend. That’s all.”

“Too many people have seen him. It
won’t be a legend much longer. And what if Stephan gets the notion to tell a TV
station about
Dio
? He’s desperate for money now. He’s
liable to do anything he can to get it.”

“Kosmas, we can’t have anyone finding
Dio
!”

“True, but we can’t let Stephan get
away with stealing.”

“Well, if he steals anything again,
we can wait until he returns to the village, and have him arrested there.”

“Is that okay with you, Toby?”

“Yes, Kosmas.
Oh, another thing … I’m going to
live in
Dio’s
hideout with him. He’s going to teach
me to use the powers my ancestors had.”

“You can’t stay there … with him.”

“
Aella
, it
is her choice. I know you still carry much love for the boy, from when he loved
you. And the beautiful memory of a young man’s kiss is preferable to the old,
weary attentions of a laborer like me …”

“Foolish man!”
She left her seat, took him firmly
in her arms. “I have been with you twenty years now, and never once have I
thrown him in your face or complained about the attention you gave me.”

“This is true but I can see the
passion in your eyes when you look at him, and I could hear the jealousy in
your voice when you talked to Toby just now.”

“I’m a silly woman, clinging to the
last shreds of my youth. But I only want
Dio
to be
safe and happy. My love for him has grown into something more akin to a
mother’s affection than a lover’s desire. If he loves Toby I am glad for him,
though I know what terrible burdens she will bear if she stays with him.”

“I’ve gone over everything in my head,
Aella
, and I’m willing to face whatever comes our
way.”

“You love him this much?”

“I do.”

“Then we will help you both however
we can. Right, Kosmas?”

“Right, my love!”

Toby smiled. One hurdle out of the
way – the next -
her own
mother – might be a greater
challenge.

“What did you say, Toby?” Lauren
asked when Toby gave her the news. “I must have misunderstood you.”

“I said I’m not going to Stanford,
and I’m not coming home.
Moonsea
is my home now.”

“Well, what changed your mind so
quickly?”

“I fell in love with the island. It’s
beautiful and serene here, like something out of a dream.”

“Of course it is. All of
Greece
is beautiful, but you can’t let a
romantic setting disrupt all of your father’s plans.”

“That’s just it, Mom. They were his plans.
I didn’t get much choice in the matter. After dad died I began to think about
what I truly wanted. I came to the conclusion that what I didn’t want to do was
spend my life chasing down a career that ultimately wouldn’t fulfill me.”

“So what will you
be
doing there?”

“Living.”

“I mean, what kind of work will you
be doing, Toby? You can’t just exist.”

“Why not?
Gregory left me enough money to live
on for decades. And the island is self-sustaining; has its own solar power and
food supply. I think I can be quite happy here.”

“I’m flying over there.”

“You don’t need to, Mom. I swear I’m
all right.”

“No, something’s off about this. I’ll
be there as soon as I can.”

She hung up before Toby could say
another word.

Toby spent the day helping
Dio
clean up his room and settling her things in. Then she
helped Kosmas bring down a solar-powered hot plate and a small fridge so they
could keep food there.

That night they had their first
dinner together,
Aella
brought them a wonderful
platter of pasta with beef and
Mizithra
cheese, and some steamed mussels with tomatoes, fennel and
ouzo
. It was
a sweet feeling, sitting there round the table with candles flickering and the
fragrances of the food invigorating them.

“I’ll make you breakfast in the
morning,” she said. “
Aella
brought an armful of eggs
and ham. I’m surprised you haven’t cooked here before.”

“I did cook, sometimes, in the
hearth. But I usually burned it.”

“Do you think anyone’s ever noticed
the smoke from your fire?”

“Kosmas has a
psisatria
… a grilling house … next to the temple. The smoke from it mixes with the
plumes from the chimney so no one can tell I have a fire. Everyone knows about
Kosmas and his grilling. He sometimes takes boxes full of roasted lamb and
chicken to the villages on the outer islands when they have some big
celebration, like Easter.”

She stopped eating, gazed at him with
admiring eyes. “You must have seen a hundred religions rise and fall in your
lifetime.”

“Not really. I only heard about them,
from the people who lived here.
Your relations.”

“
Dio
, will
you show me the records after we eat?”

“Sure. But I’ll have to tell you what
they say. I don’t think I could teach you my old language very quickly.
Sometimes I fear I’ll forget it all myself!”

After they finished eating and washed
the dishes in the bathroom sink,
Dio
led her to an
almost invisible door in the stone floor. He raised its considerable weight up
with one strong hand, grabbed a lantern with the other.

“Watch yourself down here. There are
bats and spiders and a snake or two.”

“Lovely,” she shivered, and followed
him in.

The cavern was huge, its walls and
ceilings colored a strange, luminous blue. The floor was stone, as the one
above it, but more ancient, turning to dust in spots where it had been worn
down. It was stocked with rows and rows of stone shelves which held tablets
etched in an ancient language. They were some modern additions to the room – a
canopy bed, a pair of leather chairs and a table.

“We should have come this morning,”
Dio
said. “The sunlight’s reflection seeps up from the
grotto below and lights the whole room. He threw his gaze to the edge of the
cavern. Toby crept near it, looked down and gasped as she saw the inky sea
sitting calmly in the grotto.

“Oh, it’s so beautiful here! And
spooky, it makes my spine tingle!”

He came up behind her. “More than I
do?” he asked, slipping his cool hands about her midriff.

She scooted round to face him.
“Oh, no.
You send shivers all through me.”

He kissed her, began caressing her in
just the right way to start her shivering. “We can’t … not here.”

“Why not?
There’s a bed. I use it in the
summer, when the room upstairs gets too hot. I know it’s kind of cold here, but
I can warm you up.”