"Who goes there?"
"Ariadne," answered Mikis. "And you should learn to ask before you start shooting.
You killed one of our horses."
"All is clear. Proceed," ordered the voice, ignoring Mikis' complaint.
"They are the resistance preparing for what is to come," explained Mikis.
"So I can see," replied Nikolas.
It took two more hours of steep terrain up the mountain before they reached a spring and a tiny monastery where they refreshed themselves with cool water and rested under the shade of a mulberry tree. Several men from the resistance accompanied them. Everyone took a break, including the wearied horse, which quenched his thirst at the spring's large bowled-out stone trough.
At the sound of a truck, which broke the silence with dust flying high, Nikolas and Mikis took quick cover behind some bushes. Nikolas pulled his pistol out and waited.
"Be careful, there is someone down there," a man said.
Mikis looked at Nikolas.
"Let's check it out," replied another man.
"Halt! Who goes there?" shouted Mikis. "Ariadne," said the voice.
Mikis came out at once and greeted the men. He introduced Nikolas to them, and explained how important it was for him to get to Heraklion. The men were from the Hellenic Freedom Front. Even though they were from the opposite camp from Mikis, who supported the government, they had been united in the common cause of resisting the German invasion.
"We have no trouble taking him there," said a proud-looking Cretan with a long handlebar mustache.
Nikolas left with the men, thanking Mikis with a bear hug. Mikis returned to the monastery with the remaining horse. Nikolas continued on with the men in their truck all the way to Heraklion, where he said good-bye at the docks. His ship had been camouflaged to look like a cargo vessel. After his arrival, he quickly took command and they headed for Souda Bay.