Without a word, Anna looked at him directly with a piercing glare. A vision of the kind old nun flashed in her mind, back in 1942 when she lay in a hospital bed in Athens, and she recalled her words: "This man's name should not be Dr. Tsipras, but Dr. Kakourgos, the evil one."
As though in a trance, she held the cross that Nikolas had given her, ready to ward off the evil with the power of the cross. The four rare gemstones and the pure gold shone brightly against the strong morning sun. She could see four reflecting rays striking Dr. Tsipras' face. More visions of Dr. Tsipras followed: him announcing Nikolas's disappearance and lying to Nikolas's mother, and then at the cemetery when he had Father Gregorios arrested by the Gestapo. Anna kept walking closer and closer. Lies and more lies! Evil and more evil! She raised her cross where the rays of the sun were the strongest. Dr.
Tsipras backed up toward the short wall.
"What are you doing! I ... I … " His heel stepped on a loose rock that made him lose his balance. A screaming Vassili Tsipras fell over the wall. Aware of her fear of heights, Anna did not look down the thousand-meter drop to the rocky shore below. She just crossed herself. A crow flying low reminded her of the crow outside Penelope's house when Vassili had come to announce Nikolas's disappearance and death.
She slowly walked into the chapel, knelt in front of the icon of Christ, and lit a candle. "Thy will be done." She stood and kissed the icon and whispered, "Lord have mercy on me!" With sturdy steps and her head held high, "Thank you, God," she kept repeating.
***
A large wave hit the boat broadside, throwing Nikolas off balance as he reminisced, "I wonder if Poseidon ever forgave me." Nikolas's mind wandered, refusing to focus on what was important at the moment.
"Fire! Fire! Smoke from below! I smell it!" yelled a terrified Adoni.
Nikolas snapped out of his reverie, jumped up, and ran downstairs to see for himself. "I don't see anything, Adoni," he remarked as he hurried to the engine room.
However, when he got there and opened the door, there was a sudden whoosh of fire and huge flames engulfed him, catching his clothes on fire. Nikolas began to scream, reliving his experience at the Battle of Crete all over again. He quickly took his coat off, turned it inside out, and covered his burning hair, extinguishing the flames. Adoni ran in with a fire extinguisher to battle the flames rushing from the engine room.