by Nike Azoros
‘I just hope I can be fast enough to catch a lizard? ‘Manoussos smiled, ‘Listen to your priest Nikos, you caught an eagle. You can do anything.’
Nikos dragged a large hollowed out rock to the blanket, filled it with water and pushed it beneath the blanket. Did eagles drink? He did not know but would soon find out if she never came to drink. He had managed to catch five good sized lizards too and had placed them by the edge of the blanket so she could smell there was food nearby. The movements he could see taking place beneath the blanket were definitely slower since her capture. He sat with Artemis, talking to her, watching the lump make minor undulations under the blanket all the time.
All through the night and most of the next day Nikos fed her as he always had done, by tossing the little pieces of meat to her under the blanket. He decided to try to get her to feed from his own hand. Each time he offered her a piece of meat, with the other hand, he lifted the blanket just a little. He cooed at Artemis, ‘Come here sweet goddess, here I have something for you.’ The lump in the centre of the blanket inched forward. Nikos noticed the movement and held his breath while he kept his hand steady at the opening. He moved it just a little further back so in order for Artemis to reach her food she would have to poke her head out from under the blanket.
Nikos blinked and he missed it. She’d grabbed it. Nikos could hear the crunching of lizard bones, then silence. ‘My girl was hungry! I can’t have my goddess unhappy. Let it not be said that Nikos Lambrakis does not look after his women. Come close, have some more.’ This time he did not want to miss it so he gave all his focus to the edge of the blanket and there she appeared. She revealed her sensuous curved head and took the lizard from his hand as delicately as if she were a siren selecting a diamond ring from a tray. Throughout every night that she was beneath the blanket he stayed awake when Artemis slept, which was most of the time. Whenever she stirred he was there offering food. She woke early, with the sun and Nikos saw to it that she ate her breakfast before he ate his.
On this morning, something told him to try again at putting the hood on. Nikos had pulled the hood out of his pocket and had it ready. ‘Here is another piece of meat for you. Here, come close to me. Nice and close, yes.’ He lifted up the net gently and while she was nibbling and was preoccupied. He held his breath as she angled her proud head to look directly at him with her deep set large eyes. She blinked, then went back to eating. Nikos slipped the hood over her head as easily as one would stroke the hair of a beloved child. The hood had little side extensions that kept her eyes covered. He held his breath while he monitored her movements. She did not seem disturbed in any way by the hood. He remembered Alikhan saying, ‘This will keep her calm and make her tune in to your voice.’ He exhaled his relief and decided to take the risk of lifting the blanket off one corner and take a good look at his catch. She looked a little wilted. ‘Hey beauty, you deserve another one.’ She could eat with the hood on so Nikos rewarded her with the other lizard. Manoussos was climbing up to check on progress and the men waved at each other. When he got closer he could see what had happened.
‘Nikos! I will prepare the lead.’
That was one of the things he liked about Manoussos. Anyone else might have said something obvious like, ‘you put the hood on?’ but Manoussos said what needed to be done next, not what had already been done.
Just as they had discussed many times and had everything prepared for days ago Manoussos went to the side of the cave and got what he needed. Using a rock he hammered the large stake into the ground nice and deep and tied the long leash to it then brought the end of it to Nikos. While Artemis had been eating Nikos had pulled out the short leach that he had kept in his pocket along with the hood and managed to tie it to her leg. He tied the long leash to the short one that was attached to Artemis’ leg.
‘Put the glove on me Manoussos.’ The priest carried over the glove and pulled it up onto Nikos’ arm. Without being told Manoussos placed a few pieces of meat onto the glove and stood back. Nikos sat there, with his gloved arm extended.
‘That went well. I had my special ointment on standby just in case.’ Manoussos patted his groin.
‘Good to know. But now the real training begins. It is time for Artemis to be flying again.’
Nikos had to plan the first flight but first he had to go and show his face around the town again and he had to check on Maria. ‘Oh sister you are looking well.’ Maria was sitting on her doorstep getting some sun. She smiled a weak smile at him. ‘You look good too brother. I am glad you are feeling better.’ He offered both his hands out to her to help her up and she linked her arm through his as they set off for a stroll. There was some activity in the square so they investigated.
There was a new arrival on Spinalonga which normally didn’t cause too much fuss but this arrival was a woman from Athens named Athena, she was a beauty, and she was holding a leash to which was attached a very appealing little dog. Athena had brought him along as he had been a loving companion in her old life and she needed him to be one for her terrifying new life. Nikos recognized the breed, it was a King Charles Cavalier spaniel. He had often seen the society matrons of Athens strolling with them around the fashionable streets of Kolonaki. Athena had also brought along a lemon tree in a pot. ‘How lovely to see a lemon tree again,’ Maria had said when she and Nikos welcomed her. ‘It is my gift to the island. I thought it might be useful. It is a lovely evergreen tree to look at so we can all feel a little better, lemons are so wonderful for so many uses and it has beautiful perfumed blossoms. I like things that are useful and beautiful.’ Nikos was taken by her charming logic. As far as he knew no one had ever brought a gift to the island. ‘Thank you Athena for your very thoughtful gift. Once you are settled in please come by for a coffee.’
He couldn’t believe he had said it. Behind Athena’s back Maria raised her eyebrows at Nikos and his unexpected invitation. ‘Thank you I would like that very much.’ More eyebrow raising from Maria. ‘I must settle my puppy first into his new surroundings.’ Maria was petting the dog, ‘How nice to have such exuberance here on Spinalonga, he is adorable. What is his name?’
‘This is Achilles, my little warrior.’ Ariadne and Eva came and they gushed over Athena and Achilles. ‘Come let us help you settle in, we will take you to one of the houses.’
That evening Pavlos got to her. He saw the pretty new arrival and headed straight for her once he saw she was alone. He raided her bags for any food and money. She had five thousand drachmas in her purse and roast lamb and fresh fruit in her basket.
Athena tolerated all his bullying, she protested at the robbery, stamped her feet at the loss of her food but turned into one of the Furies when Pavlos picked up her dog. She flew at him but he punched her away. She got up again so dazed she initially lunged at the wall instead of at him but he was ready for her. He grabbed her and spun her around then pushed her onto the floor so hard she cracked her head. He punched her hard again and spun her around to turn her face down as he got on top of her and put his ugly great face next to hers. He became excited as she sobbed hysterically, ‘Please leave my doggy alone.’
His response was to moan into her ear as he released himself from his tattered trousers and roughly pushed into her. Afterwards Athena lay on the floor numb from the attack, still unable to move from the pain and could only watch helplessly as Pavlos picked up the glossy, plump dog, pulled a knife out of his pocket, turned towards her and in a mocking tone said,
‘I’d love to stay and chat but I have a lunch appointment.’ The last thing Athena saw before she passed out was the sight of Pavlos bringing the knife to her precious puppy’s neck. Athena entered her trauma as a nun takes vows of silence to enter a convent. It was a better place to be than any other so there she would stay. She remained coiled in her fetal position until Maria and Eva found her and bathed her and fed her thin soup and bread.
Nikos came down from the peak to look for the juiciest bait he could find but was frustrated at every step.
He even spoke out aloud to himself, ‘Where am I possibly going to find a juicy piece of meat to reward Artemis for taking her first flight?’
Pavlos was hard at work butchering up the dog and had chosen to do so in the centre of the platia. He underestimated the hunger of the others. They did not see a cute dog, someone’s once beloved pet and companion. They just saw meat. When Nikos entered the square he too smelt the blood, the smell of butchery. Then he saw the glistening red flesh.
‘What has he done?’ Manoussos said from behind Nikos. ‘He has proven he is what he is, as stupid as he is cruel. The Greeks have a word for it, koutoponeiros, stupid and sly. His need to show his cunning and cruelty blinds him to his own failings. He makes the same mistakes over and over again, he has become predictable.’
No sooner had Nikos spoken the words the trouble he knew Pavlos would get into had begun. He readied himself to zoom in and snatch a piece of the mystery meat. Where it had come from and what it was did not bother him. The gods had provided an answer to his problem and he was not going to question it. He leant against a wall and waited. It took less time than he thought. One of Pavlos’s thugs called out from across the platia, ‘I’ll get the fire ready for our feast.’
‘What feast malaka? This is my dinner and I am not sharing.’ The fight began, as usual, and as usual the crowd gathered around. Nikos had just enough time to snatch pieces of the meat and run away with the priest following him, also pocketing pieces of puppy into his rassos.
Artemis cocked her regal head as she sensed Nikos nearby, she could smell the meat. Nikos busied himself cutting it up into chunks. But Nikos was hurting, not from the exertion but from the pain of the memories of Alikhan. He spoke out aloud, as he often did, as if Alikhan were with him, ‘Ach! Alikhan where are you now? Am I even anywhere near to doing any of this the right way?’ He had to stop cutting up the meat and hang his head in weary grief. ‘I don’t think I can do this my friend.’
A shadow crept across his him, blocking out the sun. ‘What do you think you are feeding, a shark? Look at the size of her beak, cut it up into smaller pieces will you or you will choke your beautiful Artemis before she ever gets to fly again.’ Nikos squinted into the sunlight to see who was speaking to him. ‘Alikhan?’
‘You chose well Nikos, she is glorious. In the past my ancestors would have paid six camels for such a bird.’ He was silhouetted against the sky, his stocky frame, his bristly hair, his ruddy cheeks. ‘Good to see you are treasuring my equipment now come on, let’s put it to good use. Grab the leash.’
Nikos did not need to ask again, it was Alikhan standing there giving him orders on how to train his eagle. He would ask questions later. Nikos grabbed the leash. ‘Now tie one end to your biyalai, your glove, there on the iron ring my grandfather himself sewed into place.’ Nikos found the small metal ring on the side of the glove and tied the leash to it thanking his own late father silently for showing him how to tie secure knots for the boats. ‘I heard that and I will pass on your thanks, now take the other end of the leash and attach it to Artemis.’ Nikos hesitated, he turned to Alikhan.
‘Come on Nikos, use your knowledge of the knots from your father. Tie the short leash to Artemis and then tie the long leash to that.’ Nikos approached Artemis. ‘Don’t remove her hood yet. Feed her a piece of meat, once the leash is on feed her another piece. Never let your girl go hungry Nikos. She needs to trust you will always look after her therefore she will look after you.’
Nikos stood up and looked over at Alikhan who seemed to be a lot taller than he was during life. His face was serene and his voice was firm, ‘Put the bardak on now Nikos so we can get her to fly to you. He tied the wooden wrist support on, it felt awkward. ‘Relax you will get used to it. It is more difficult without it. I would say you have about seven kilos of bird here Nikos. You are going to need the extra support. Now, give her one more piece of meat then take her tomaga off.’ Tomaga, that’s what Alikhan always called the hood Nikos thought to himself as he slipped it off the bird by pulling on its ornate embroidered tab. ‘You forgot that it was called a tomaga eh Nikos? Okay, now walk back till the leash is stretched out and stand there offering her a piece of meat.’ Nikos stood at the end of the extended leash and waited.
First Artemis took an unsure step like the clumsy waddle of a fat woman, legs apart and wings flapping out like a crumpled dress in the wind. Nikos stood firm, holding the piece of meat with one hand up close to the wrist with the bardak strapped on. He waited. She took one more step then leapt up like a ballerina and landed on the bardak.
Nikos was put off balance by the bulk and the weight of the bird standing on his wrist. He could feel the pinch of her talons through the glove and suddenly the bardak did not feel so awkward. He tried to remain composed and calm. He arched his body to accommodate the space she was taking up as well as trying to keep his arm up to hold her. Alikhan’s voice came from behind him, ‘Quick, give her another piece of meat.’ Nikos obeyed. ‘And another one. Don’t ever be meager with your eagle Nikos.’ Nikos rewarded Artemis again. ‘Now do it again. Always provide for your girl Nikos.’ Alikhan seemed to be melting into the sky, his voice seemed quieter now.
Artemis was balanced comfortably on Nikos’s wrist but she was a load and Nikos resigned himself to the fact he would have a sore wrist for a while until he developed some strength in his muscles. He walked over to the perch he had prepared and Artemis obediently hopped onto it. Nikos fed Artemis another piece of meat then walked back till the leash was stretched out and held out another piece of meat.
Did she wink? Nikos was still trying to see if she did when she launched into flight and sailed elegantly over to his arm, settled onto his wrist and picked up her piece of meat. Nikos did a little jump of victory and did not need to be told by Alikhan or anyone to do it immediately again but not before rewarding her with another piece of meat.
At the third attempt Artemis flew to him and nestled onto the bardak as if she had been doing it for ever. ‘Ah Artemis, my goddess, here you deserve this.’ He fed her more pieces of the ill fated puppy, grateful at least that the puppy didn’t get slaughtered for nothing but that it had played a significant role in the future food supply of Spinalonga.
Nikos looked around to see if the spirit of Alikhan was still with him but he was no longer visible. Nikos angled his head, he could hear something He turned his ear towards the sound to try to tune in to Alikhan’s voice. It was now a whisper but it was right in his ear, ‘Your eagle is a beautiful goddess Nikos, treat her well. If she doesn’t feel like learning something one day let her rest. Try again the next day. Keep feeding her well. Gain her trust. Every time she does what you want, reward her. Let her know she is special just like a woman eh Nikos. And remember that as the hunter trains the eagle so does the eagle train the hunter.’
‘Alikhan, what do I do next?’
‘Gain her trust. Then progress to your goal, free flight.’
‘But?’
‘Come on Nikos, just continue until you can sense she is ready. Then just do it. Send her off on a flight’ Nikos looked around him trying to see something but nothing was there. He looked up at the sky and asked the air, ‘How will I know if I have gained her trust?’
Out of the clouds came the answer,
‘If she comes back.’
Alikhan was gone but his words remained to guide Nikos. Every day, all day for the next nine days Nikos trained with Artemis. Finding rewards for her was not easy. He managed to filch another chunk of the dog meat and burdened Manoussos with more mouse and lizard catching. Through all this Nikos was surviving on lentil soup and some bread but he never left her side. He slept right next to Artemis like a dutiful husband. He whispered words of tenderness into her ear and sang her love songs and lullabies.
On the ninth day Nikos felt as if the sun kissed him awake. Artemis was sitting on her perch in full alertness. Nikos still in his semi slumber reached over and gently removed her tomaga, ‘Kali mera thea mou, good morning m
y goddess.’ Nikos did a lazy stretch and looked out into the clouds garnishing the sky over Spinalonga. The face of Alikhan peeped out from behind one and winked at him. In his surprise he looked over at Artemis and he was positive she winked at him too.
‘Okay, I need a coffee.’ He got busy rekindling the small fire he kept burning in the shelter of some rocks and brewed himself a double serve. He pulled a bread roll out of his bag. Coffee and a bread roll, the standard breakfast of Greeks from peasants to presidents. He noticed Manoussos had been and gone by the little pile of mice and lizards left by the stone surround of the fire.
‘Here Artemis, have some breakfast,’ he said as he was about to stand up and take the food over to her.
Artemis jumped off her perch and waddled over to him. She jumped right onto the bardak, he had fallen asleep still wearing it, and took the meat. He knew a cue when he saw one. Nikos stood up, careful not to unsettle Artemis who was still on his wrist. He slowly untied the long leash from the short one that was attached to Artemis. With a great effort he held up his arm high then just as Alikhan had instructed him once long ago before he ever set eyes on Spinalonga, he gave a subtle flick of his wrist to give Artemis lift off. With one great flap of her wings she was airborne. His entire body chilled at the thrill of watching her soar into the blue.
‘My eagle. My father always called me his eagle but I am an eagle without wings. Be my wings Artemis.’
He couldn’t see her anymore, the sun had swallowed her so there was nothing to do but wait. If he had done a good enough job of making her trust him she would be back, otherwise it was more hunger and waiting to hear news from those to whom he had sent letters.
