Desperado Dale (Scenic Route to Paradise) by Andrea Aarons

Author:Andrea Aarons [Aarons, Andrea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-12-30T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18 Above the Ruins

Satisfied that Anna and her companions were not those traveling with the blond American male who cunningly made off with a small fortune, Karlo and his right hand man mounted their bikes. He realized that the unreliable boy, Guppo was not worth chastising… Not at this time, anyway. The men headed back to the city, leaving a dusty cloud in their wake. Anna and the others were not surprised when Jellybean’s ear piercing whistle brought Guppo out from the shrubbery.

Afterward, when she and the boy had returned to the car and Anna finished speaking with Dale, she asked Guppo what he thought of the group called, New Dawn. There had been lots of talk about the faction before she left the states. Mostly from the common people of Greece, the chatter glowingly cast them in a positive light. As the national infrastructure began failing members of the New Dawn stepped in providing food, medicine and protection. There had been rumors of violence and the abuse of power too.

Nine year old Guppo gave his viewpoint. “When I was a little boy, everyone liked these men. They were nice. Lately, my family tells me they are mean and I am to stay out of their way.” He didn’t appear fearful as he spoke. He said, “I didn’t see it with my own eyes but my sister told me they came to the store and took all the cigarettes and some other things without paying… That was before I went to visit. Also, the boys told me that they beat up people just for fun.” The child hadn’t made the link between the men on the café bikes being one and the same as the New Dawn agents.

Bernie had called Guppo their tour guide but the boy knew very little of island geography that was not within a half mile of his own threshold. They stopped in the late afternoon. Anna was tired of driving on bumpy roads with the added necessity of dodging goats, bikes and fowl acting as obstacle course. Their average speed was 7 miles an hour according to Dale’s grandfather.

A wind worn sign, posted at a crossroads indicated a restaurant-motel was less than 250 meters up the hill. Anna looked at her gas gauge and was content that they indeed had enough to get them to the coast in the morning. Tonight she needed rest. Guppo, Dale and the others, the motorcycles and the tortuous driving had worn her out. The sun had not made its bow yet. Still by the time they made provision for the night, it would be dark.

The motel and restaurant were part of a smallish town. At one time it may have been a tourist stop because there were stone ruins on the hillside facing the western sea. Anna didn’t ask. The owners, a family, scrambled as the rental car came to a stop in front of place. Bernie reached past Guppo to throw the car door open. He had to get out.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.