The Eagle of Spinalonga

by Nike Azoros

  On his desk was a little blue enamel cup holding a bunch of blossoms from Athena’s lemon tree. It was a little silent tribute that Nikos liked to make to the poor girl and her unknowing contribution to the well being of Spinalonga. It occurred to Minister Kontos as he took in the order of the room that he would be happy to live and work in a room like this. ‘Nikos, this space tells me a lot about who you are.’

  ‘This is not what I wanted to show you Minister.’

  ‘Andonis.’

  ‘Thank you, Andonis. Please come out into the courtyard.’ He had the shutters and door closed. Usually they were always open so he and Artemis could be as close together as possible. He had closed them today so as to keep her hidden but now he felt it was right to reveal her presence. Kontos stood back for Nikos to open the door and waited for it to swing back to reveal the secret. He was speechless at the sight of the grand eagle perched on a great branch. It was wearing a strange hood that covered its eyes but it still had the bearing of a judge about to pronounce sentence. His muteness continued as he watched Nikos go up to the eagle and the creature, sensing his presence, leaned in to him as if to give him a kiss.

  ‘Her name is Artemis. I caught her.’

  ‘You caught an eagle! How?’

  ‘It wasn’t easy but I did it and I trained her to hunt. She brings us food, some fish, a hare sometimes. A handful of fish between over fifty people is nowhere near enough but that little extra protein makes so much difference. The Brotherhood of Spinalonga has the Syssitia system. All the catch is cooked up as one big meal and we share.’ Nikos stopped talking. He almost told of the time last week when Artemis had come back with a wild piglet. It was the day after Zafiris had his attack of guilt and there was cooking oil and potatoes galore. The women had done vast amounts of sensational fried potato slices and the men had slow cooked the piglet over hot coals. There was only enough pork for a small serve each but the festivity in the air along with buckets of potatoes sustained them.

  Kontos noticed the large barrel in the corner and went and looked in. ‘It’s her nest.’ Nikos informed. The fresh gleam of green in the middle of the sawdust intrigued the Minister, ‘There is a sprig of laurel in it.’

  ‘I know. Last week I noticed it. There is no laurel tree on Spinalonga yet when I came back here to rest her after she had been fishing, there it was. I took it out and washed it and gave it to the women to use in the cooking. The next day there was another sprig of laurel in the nest. I did it again, and again the next day there was another sprig of laurel in the nest. She seems to insist upon it, and it is always a sprig of laurel, nothing else.

  Kontos now had his hand over his mouth as if trying to hold in some sort of exclamation of disbelief. He stood back and watched as Nikos pulled an unusual red embroidered bag out from under his desk, from it he brought out a long leather glove. He put it on and went over to Artemis and she leapt onto his arm as lightly as a butterfly. Kontos was awestruck by the sight of this man, barely out of boyhood, who in different circumstances might have ended up running the country but now stood modestly before him, in a hovel he had made into an elegant library and with one metre of eagle perched on his arm.

  ‘Nikos, the eagle is the symbol of the gods. It was eagles that discovered Delphi and there at the sanctuary sacred to Apollo is a laurel tree. The god of light too deemed it to be sacred. Those who wanted to make an offering to the god would offer laurel.’

  ‘I know. What can I tell you, my goddess seems to need to have a sprig of laurel with her at all times.’

  Kontos could only shake his head in disbelief. Even though he was seeing it, he was still having trouble believing the mythical sight before him. Manoussos had found them and was now in the courtyard with them. Kontos had not seen him when he asked of Nikos, ‘Who are you Nikos Lambrakis? Are you a God?’

  Both Nikos and Kontos turned towards Manoussos when he spoke, ‘Nikos once said to me that the only way God would ever come to Spinalonga was if I brought Him myself. But there was no need. He was already here.’ Nikos had no idea what an imposing sight he and Artemis together made and he laughed at the comment about God, ‘I am just a soul trying to bring light to other souls.’ Under his breath Manoussos said, ‘That is what a God does.’

  Thanos came running up to them, ‘Minister, it is time to go. The boat is ready.’

  Nikos put Artemis back on her perch and the men made their way back to the shore where the boat was waiting, the captain had to return the special guests to Elounda before dark. Thanos got on the boat first, ‘Mr Nikos, I am going to enjoy nailing you know who. We all knew he was on the take but to stoop as low as to steal the pensions of the sick, well, like I said, I am going to enjoy the look on his face when he sees he has been nabbed by the former goat herd.’

  The minister was the last to board, ‘Nikos you have my word I will act fast to bring you all your requirements.’

  ‘Even the cinema?’

  ‘Especially the cinema.’ Both men laughed together and waved at each other as the boat left Spinalonga.

  Chapter 15: Getting Things Done.

  The workers got to work taking measurements and marking out the building site and Angela set up a first aid corner and applied antiseptic and fresh bandages to the many patients lined up for treatment. Angela was a veteran battle field nurse but what she saw on Spinalonga moved her to tears. For many of the patients it was the first time their wounds had ever been treated. They moaned in painful ecstasy when the fresh but sharp antiseptic came in contact with their skin and writhed in bliss when the soft, clean bandages were being wrapped around their exhausted limbs. Before they refused to even look at their wounds now the patients could not take their eyes off their clean bandages. They walked around showing each other their newly treated wounds as if they were comparing Christmas presents.

  Angela had instantly befriended Maria and Eva.

  ‘We will take your things and get a nice room ready for you. It won’t be much but we will see to it that it is clean.’ Angela smiled her thanks and kept working.

  The workmen had done all their preparations and were boarding their boat. One of them came over to see Angela, ‘We cannot do anymore today. We will be back tomorrow with building materials and get the place built for you as soon as possible. You sure you want to stay here? There is room on the boat. How can you stay here with these people? It will take some time before we can have a room ready for you.’

  ‘Thank you but no, I will stay. And you are not building the infirmary for me. You are building it for the patients. These people need me. You just hurry up and build the infirmary so we can all get to work and do what must be done.’

  Angela took special interest in poor Athena who was still trapped in her silent world after the attack from Pavlos. Nikos had been visiting Athena too and always gave her extra generous portions of fish or whatever else Artemis brought in as acknowledgement of the role her puppy played in training her. He would sometimes just look at her for she was very lovely. There were other times he just sat there with her and read his books. Sometimes he read out loud so she could hear and he would discuss what he had just read as if she were participating in the conversation. He would chat to her about what was happening on the island and often wondered if he should tell her that her puppy was part of the reason she now eats fish and wild game every day? He balked. He would have liked to get to know her better and to help her more but he had a very demanding diva of an eagle to look after. It would have to wait for another time.

  If he had only looked into her eyes he would have seen the warmth and intelligence that he always wanted in a woman. In Athena’s case they were just lying dormant. Staying silent was the best therapy for her right now. The change in her life had been too big and by stilling herself completely she was slowly making the adaptations she knew were needed to make but at her own pace. So she stayed silent.

  Nikos, like so many men before him and after, overlooked the pleasure of the company of a good woman becau
se it seemed to be too much effort. No, Nikos was not a God, he was just a man.

  The workers came every day and worked hard. They were respectful and kept their distance. To acknowledge the patients they would doff their caps at them and the patients would wave back. The workers were cheerful and energetic and would hold up baskets for all to see then place the baskets on rocks and walk away. The patients understood the contents were for them and would howl thanks when they saw whatever little treat each man had brought. There were varied delights such as almonds, chocolate, apples and the occasional bottle of wine. Within a couple of weeks walls began to sprout out of the rocks of Spinalonga. One day one of the engineers came and showed Nikos the plan of the new infirmary as well as drawings of what it would look like when finished. All Nikos saw was a basic rectangular building with bars on the windows.

  ‘These bars on the windows, why do you make the hospital look like a prison.’

  ‘I’m not sure. It was requested of me. Maybe they think if we don’t do that all the inmates will break in and steal food and blankets and all sorts of things.’

  ‘It doesn’t occur to you why a man steals food or a blanket? If a man has enough to eat he does not steal food. If a man is warm he does not steal a blanket. You are supposed to be the educated people? There are people out on the island who have lost their eyes yet you are the ones who are blind.’ His entire rebuke was delivered without him raising his voice and without his hands moving from his sides, his absolute stillness of body and direct speech added weight to his every word. The engineer could only shrug and agree with him.

  Angela admired Nikos more every minute she got to know him. Life on Spinalonga was a trial in every way. Even now with more goods arriving life was still uncomfortable yet Nikos kept the morale of the whole island buoyant. He never complained about his fate and he treated every soul as if they were family. It was a wonderful thing to Angela that she became a nurse and looked after the wounded soldiers. She loved her chosen vocation. Others were quick to remind her that she was already thirty five and unmarried, her luck might just have past her by. An unmarried woman of over thirty in 1936 in provincial Greece was invisible, unmarriageable, at least that was how some of the peasant women thought. Maybe some elderly widower might accept her so she could wash his clothes and spoon feed him his soup because he had no daughters to care for him. Many a spinster did such a thing just to know the feeling of having had a wedding day and being able to say the words, my husband.

  Angela didn’t care, she would not settle for what amounted to little better than slavery and if she was going to be nursing anyone, then she would be paid for it. Here on Spinalonga she was not pitied, she was adored. Everyone needed her yet nobody infringed on her privacy. She was exactly where she wanted to be.

  Thanos and Kontos kept their word. They acted fast on everything. Thanos was lucky enough to catch Christos the council clerk in the act of opening up the pension envelopes and removing the money. He had become so blasé about it that he was doing it at a table in the taverna. It was a corner table and it was a quiet day so he just propped a book up as cover to hide the stack of envelopes he had with him. He plucked eighty drachmas from the one hundred drachmas that each of the envelopes contained, leaving the recipient barely enough money for bread and coffee. He was so engrossed in his work and so confident no one was even noticing him anymore that he did not see that he was being watched.

  Thanos had two policemen with him courtesy of the Minister and they looked on in open mouthed incredulity, ‘He really has become a law unto himself hasn’t he? I will go up to him first.’

  ‘Okay, we will stay here, he will probably try to make a run for it but we will see to it he goes nowhere.’

  Thanos walked up to Christos, ‘What are you doing here Christos?’ The fat clerk was so startled he dropped his work. Money and envelopes fell all around him. ‘Oh here, let me help you with that.’ Thanos picked some of the fallen items up and looked at them before passing them back to him, ‘What is going on here Christos? These are pension packets with money for the patients of Spinalonga.’

  ‘Patients! Come on Thanos, we put you into a suit and you get a job and suddenly you are referring to filthy lepers as patients.’ Thanos kept cool, too cool, and Christos smelled trouble.

  ‘No Christos, the filthiest people I know are not on that island.’

  Christos looked sideways at the young man, ‘Ah I see, I tell you what boy, I don’t have time for this sort of thing so to save us all a lot of talking I will give you a cut. How is twenty percent? Will that buy your silence? That is what this is all about isn’t it?’

  Thanos stood up and the police took their cue. Christos was arrested and jailed and this time the department of Social Security did not send the pensions first to the local authorities for distribution but the new pensions of four hundred drachmas a month were sent direct to Spinalonga along with the monthly medical supplies of the new infirmary.

  The building of the infirmary was one of the fastest constructions anyone had ever seen. It was not a case of supreme craftsmanship or high efficiency. It was merely a case of it needed to be completed in a hurry so the medical team could get in and start work. The result was an ugly red brick box but to the patients of Spinalonga it was for them and it was full of medical supplies so at least the stench of rotting flesh which had partially disappeared once Nurse Angela had joined them now had totally disappeared.

  Angela settled herself in nicely. The upper level had residential rooms for staff and she had chosen the light corner room with views of Elounda. Within a week of the completion of the infirmary she was joined by a junior nurse and doctors arrived on a roster. Pavlos was not able to stay away from her. ‘So Nurse Angela would you like to take a look at where it hurts?’

  She didn’t waver for an instant. ‘Certainly, that is what I do best. Why don’t you lie down here and let me take a good look at you.’ Pavlos, for the first time in his hideous life, found himself struggling to be crude. He was not accustomed to confident women and her directness unnerved him. He always brought out reactions of fear and loathing which brought out the monster in him. Angela was a conundrum. He always thought he was the conundrum. He had heard the word once and thought it sounded interesting. Pavlos was no conundrum. Pavlos was a monster losing his power.

  His vitality was leaving him more and more every day. The women of Spinalonga thought the nights were quieter because Pavlos was no longer prowling due to the extra food and the jealousy that his authority was being sapped away by Nikos and his more politesse way of doing things. His quieter behavior was because he hadn’t had an erection for several weeks, not even the morning rise to attention. His disease was damaging the one place no man wants to be damaged. He would have gladly given up an arm, a leg or an eye, but not that.

  ‘No, I have changed my mind, I don’t need an examination.’ He scrambled away revealing his underlying cowardice that he kept camouflaged by being a bombastic beast. Angela knew men, and she knew that Pavlos was a man who no longer functioned sexually. She’d had experience with such men before. Anyway, he would soon be back to become the very first formal admission to the infirmary. It was all because of his encounter with Artemis.

  The sight of a great eagle on the arm of a great man makes an unforgettable impression and when Nikos walked around Spinalonga with Artemis perched imperiously on his wrist Pavlos could barely contain his jealousy. He pretended to be inconvenienced when Nikos was coming through one of the alleys and had to make way for them.

  ‘Watch your back city boy. I just might make a roast out of her tonight.’

  Nikos laughed, ‘I’d like to see you try.’

  Nikos went into his home and leashed Artemis to her perch, ‘There you go my sweet girl. And to thank you for all the lovely fish you brought us today here is a nice piece of goat for you.’ Nikos remembered to keep the fur on the pieces of meat to provide her with the natural roughage an eagle needs. Artemis tucked into her meal. ‘Goo
d girl, you eat up. I am off to see a movie, we are screening Charlie Chaplin tonight.’

  Pavlos had hidden in one of the old houses as he watched Nikos leave. He waited until Nikos was out of sight then snuck into his house and found the eagle calmly balanced on her perch. ‘Well, Miss Artemis, time for you to have a new master. Hey, you and Pavlos will make a mighty fine couple.’ The response from Artemis was to strike out. She scratched him with her razor claws leaving a deep gash in his arm. Pavlos screeched in agony and sent a punch at Artemis. She screeched back at the cowering man then she savagely attacked his face, forced her beak into his eye socket, wrenched out his left eye and gobbled it down daintily.

  A bloodied and screaming Pavlos lurched out into the streets. He looked as if he had been in a war, blood was streaming down his face making him fully blinded and he bumped into walls leaving bloody smudges everywhere. Ikaros and his friends saw him stumbling out of Nikos’s dwelling and instantly worked out what had happened.

  ‘It looks like Artemis taught the malaka who is the boss.’

  ‘Serves him right.’

  ‘Come on let’s get him to this new infirmary we now have.’ Ikaros and his friends bundled him over there, pushed him through the door then left.

  ‘We should have let the pig bleed to death.’

  ‘I almost did but after all the work that has taken place around here I didn’t want it all messed up with his filthy blood.’ The men considered telling Nikos right away but they checked on Artemis and she looked calm and proud as ever. They went to join Nikos and the others in the cinema and saw everyone was having a wonderful time. They would tell Nikos after the movie was over so they sat to watch Charlie Chaplin and felt free to laugh at someone else at last.

  The generator had arrived and had been installed the previous week. Spinalonga now had light! The patients were happy to stay out of sight while technicians came and wired up the town for street lamps and laid wiring for every house to have power outlets. The coup that Nikos had scored was enormous. Elounda still didn’t have power but Spinalonga now did.