Approaching the cemetery, they saw many women dressed entirely in black. Anna entered slowly, followed by some of the goats that gamboled around the graveyard, grazing on the tall grass. Moulos made no attempt to herd them.
With a heavy heart and tears in her eyes, Anna walked to the chapel door. Women in pairs and threesomes murmured to each other. Some glared at Anna angrily and others approached her accusingly. "You must be the one who killed him," cried out one woman, pointing her finger at Anna. "You are the cause of this," snarled another. "God will punish you," yelled a toothless old woman. "Get out of here!" shouted another at the top of her lungs.
Paying no attention to the hostility, Anna picked a few wildflowers and went inside the chapel. She knelt down in front of the simple pine coffin, placed the purple lupine, yellow mustard, and red poppies on Mikis' cold hands, and prayed.
Mikis' mother, who had spent the night in the chapel with her son's body, looked at Anna with compassion, eyes full of tears. "Don't listen to what they are saying, my daughter." Anna silently went over to the grieving mother and embraced her. The woman held her tightly and whispered in her ear, "Hurry up, go carefully before someone betrays you, and God be with you."
Anna bent down and kissed the dead man's forehead, something she had never done before. When she went back outside, Anna caught sight of a young woman placing her hand over her mouth and whispering something to another woman, who ran immediately toward the village. Anna knew what it meant. She rushed over to Moulos and thanked him, planting a kiss on his cheek. Moulos' eyes brightened and a wide smile appeared on his face.
"Moulos, tell Christomanolis that I am returning to Vianos to go to church," Anna said, so Moulos would be unable to tell anyone which way she had actually gone. Moulos just nodded as though he understood. Anna started off right away in the opposite direction, toward Heraklion. When Moulos ran after her, Anna paused.
"What is it?" inquired Anna.
"For you," Moulos said, lowering his gaze and handing her a small bouquet of wildflowers. Sea daffodils, almond blossoms, purple goat's beard.
"Oh, you are so sweet," murmured
Anna, and kissed him on the other cheek. "Now I must go," she said as she rushed off. Moulos watched Anna disappear, headed away from Vianos. Confused, he scratched his head with one hand and touched his cheek with the other, remembering Anna's kiss.
Anna ran as fast as she could, unaware of the beautiful landscape. "I must deliver these papers to Heraklion" she kept saying to herself. "I must, oh God, help me!" At the same time, her mind was preoccupied with many other thoughts as well: "Why did Father Gregorios trust us with these papers? And why in the world are they so important? What was Father Gregorios doing on the beach when Nikolas and I were washed ashore? Definitely not expecting us."