ARROW - 166. Chapter 166

With all of the books and souvenirs in the crate, I was given a bill of fare that listed everything and a financial bill that included the packing and shipping charges. I wanted to know when the crate would leave for the States and when it would arrive. As it turned out I had two choices, by boat or by plane. I opted by plane, it would be quicker and guaranteed it would be there when we returned. I phoned my bank and arranged for the funds to be transferred to the company's bank. “We will ship as soon as the money arrives at our bank.”

I smiled, I knew the money would arrive in a few days. “Please let me know when it is shipped, the airline, and the expected receipt in the States.” Now I need to contact Dad to arrange for the pickup.

With the packing finished and picked up by the shipping company, I needed to wait for the boys and the guys. They should be back at about 3 pm. I wonder how the fishing went.

I had lunch in Athens and spent the afternoon at the Benaki Museum. It features photographs by Elly Sougioultzoglou-Seraidari better known as Nelly. The exhibition included a lot of her photographic equipment.

Although this wasn’t my medium it did provide some ideas for painting. This wouldn’t be the first time I have used photographs as the subject matter for my paintings. Between Lunch and viewing the exhibition, it was close to 3:30. I had to hustle to get back to the hotel before the boys.

Walking into our hotel, the bell boy told me my party just arrived. I headed to our room to find out from Colin how the fishing went. Walking into our room, I heard him in the bathroom. Opening the door, he was in the shower and his clothes were on the floor,

“How was the fishing?”

“Great, you should have come with us. We were able to keep a few fish which we will have for dinner tonight. I would have thought the bell boy would have told you. We gave him the fish to take to the kitchen.”

“What did Roger, Jean, and Arnaud think about fishing? I don’t think anyone of them has ever gone fishing.”

“At first they were enjoying the boat ride. Tommy gave his fishing rod to Roger after catching the first fish. I laughed as Roger had a horrid look on his face. I truly believe this would be the first time he has ever fished, One of the men on the boat baited his hook. He no sooner dropped his line overboard when he had a fish. It was a snapper and a big one at that. He gave his rod back to Tommy and sat there with a big smile. Now the boys copied Tommy, Jean made a bet with Roger for a dollar as to who had the bigger fish. Arnaud wasn’t into it, when Toby gave him his rod, he dropped it in the water without any bait. I don’t think fishing is his thing. I think Roger and Jean enjoyed it. The older boys shared their rods with Roger and Jean.”

“Sounds like you all had a great time.”

“I think we need to put Greece on our vacation list. We could fly into Paris, then to Greece, and then to Italy before heading home.”

“You’ll have to fit a stop in Spain to see Carlos.”

“I’ll make this a project for the boys.”

“Over the next few days, I’d like to check out some of the islands off the southern coast. You can do some fishing there if we can rent rods.”

I forgot the boys had their cameras. I was going to find out as I opened our bedroom door to their knock.

“Dad, look at our photos.” I sat on the bed as they sat next to me. I had to look at them in two groups, first the 5 young boys.

“Did you catch that fish?”

“Yes, but Ronnie had to help me land him.”

I smiled, as I hugged him. I wanted him to fill proud of his catch. Of course, I started it and I had to look at all of their cameras, I was smiling, hugging the boys, and kissing their heads. I was proud of them but more so, I was glad they had a good time. I knew when we got home, they would be showing their fish to the Grands.

“You are always looking for painting subjects, here you have ten.”

I thought about that, and I also thought of my protege. “Did any of you get a photo of the boat and crew?”

That started the boys looking through their cameras. One boy had a partial. He had the front. One boy had the back and there were several of the crew helping the boys. They were smiling as they remembered their fishing trip.

We went to the Pent House to see how the landlubbers did, Ronnie’s word not mine.

Knocking on the door, Roger answered.

“Where are Jean and Arnaud?”

“They are taking a nap. I think Arnaud may have gotten a little seasick.”

“I hope he feels better as we are going Island hopping tomorrow.”

“Let’s plan on dinner at 7 then we can get a good night's sleep before heading out tomorrow.”

We agreed on that. Walking back to our rooms, Colin started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Look at the time.” I did and it was 6:45.

So we gathered up the boys and headed to the dining room. The dinner special that evening was seafood, I.e. fish.

Roger, Jean, and Arnaud staggered in at 8. We looked at them and then laughed. Roger and Jean looked okay but poor Arnaud didn’t look too well. Colin whispered he got seasick when we hit some waves.

“Do you think he has ever gone fishing before?”

“I don’t think he has ever been on a boat before.”

“Yes, he was. When we went to Paris for the first time with the boys. Remember we took that river dinner cruise.”

“There’s a big difference between a smooth river and the ocean.”

“Tomorrow I was hopping on visiting the islands off the south coast. Will he be able to come with us?”

“I don’t know. It will depend on how he feels.”

“If we take a ferry it should be smoother.”

“I wonder if he forgot about the possibility of the boys wanting to fish.”

“I’d bet he never considered it. He toured Greece for art objects and artworks of new artists. He gets a lot of joy in discovering budding artists.”

I wonder what he will think of Carl’s painting. I felt GG’s smile.

In the morning, before breakfast, I called the Home. I had a dream that they had a problem that involved the police. While I was making the call. Tommy came into our room.

“Dad”

“Shhh. I’m calling the Home.”

The phone rang for several minutes before it was answered. “Hello? Lois? What’s happening?”

“Armand, wait here’s Pat.”

I could hear tell Pat it was Armand. “Hello Armand, where are you?”

“I’m in Greece. What’s happening?”

“First, everything is fine and the children are okay. We had a major electrical failure, the only lights were those on the generators at the front gate. The police came and checked the property. Everything is okay. It is storming here and the boys put the geese in the chicken coop. Tell Ivan his corn is okay. The swimming pool over flooded and will need to be filtered and treated once we get electric.”

“What about the children?”

“The older children are fine, the younger children we nested in the living room. They are fine.”

“Have the police left?”

“Yes, all but two. One is in the kitchen and one is in Lois’s office.”

“Here, Tommy wants to speak to you.”

I listened to Tommy’s side of the conversation. I thought his suggestion they get camping bed rolls made sense. When he hung up he gave me my phone back.

“Dad, how much do bed rolls cost?”

“I don’t know. Tomorrow we can call Gramps and have him check. You should go to bed and think about what else you might need and the number of bed rolls. We’ll call Gramps tomorrow.”

A hug and he was off to bed. I told Colin about the storm. “I’ll call Charles and have him check out the building and utilities.”

I listened as Colin was talking to Charles. “Ask him to check prices for bedrolls.”

He did and I was snuggling when he hung up. “You know it is very hard to talk when you do that.” A kiss and all is okay.