Chapter Six - It's All Greek

Without warning, they were suddenly enveloped into a bright light and sucked into what Kali felt was like a wind tunnel. She was in the air being pushed around by a strong wind. Suddenly the light faded and she thumped onto the ground.
“Ow!” she exclaimed.
“Argh!” she heard Tony yell. “Bugger me, that hurt!”
Kali looked round and saw Tony rubbing his arm vigorously.
“What the bloody hell happened?!” he yelled at her.
“You think I know?!” she yelled back.
“What’s with the yelling?” a third voice said. “Hey, nice chest. Is that an offering?”
Kali and Tony both looked round and saw a middle aged man wearing a long blue robe with a sort of rope tied around his middle.
“Well, is it or not?” he asked. “I’m going to be late at this rate.”
“No, it’s mine!” Tony yelled, getting up and putting a protective hand over the chest.
“Suit yourself,” the man said, turning around and hobbling away.
“What the hell?!” Tony was still yelling. “What is with the old guy in the robe?!”
“Tony?”
“What?!”
“Look.”

Tony turned and saw Kali pointing to a building on a hill across the valley. But it wasn’t just any building. It looked like the Greek Parthenon. Except it was complete. It wasn’t broken or cracked or even particularly dirty. It was as bright as marble could be, gleaming in the dawn light. A slow stream of robed people were starting to process through the valley, up the hill and into the temple’s courtyard.
“That looks new,” Tony observed.
“That looks like the Athenian Parthenon,” Kali said. “And that looks like the Panathanaea.”
“You wanna say that again?”
“It’s an ancient festival celebrated by Greeks in the Classical period. It’s a bit late for that though. I’m sure it was celebrated in high summer. Maybe it’s just a regular festival. I can’t see the peplos being carried…”
“Hang on a tick. We’re in Greece?”
“Seems like it.”
“Are you nuts?”
“Well,” Kali said, getting cross, “you wanna explain how we went from my office in Maugham to the exterior of the ancient Greek countryside?!”
“Haven’t the foggiest.”
“I think I’ve watched too much Doctor Who.”
“Why’s that?”
“Time travel?”
“No bloody way!”
“What do you suggest?”
“Fuck me!”
“I’ll pass if you don’t mind.”
“This isn’t the time to joke.”
“What else can we do at a time like this?”
“You are nuts.”
“You are annoying!”
“And I’m leaving!”
“Huh?”
“Leaving. Going back,” Tony stated, waving one arm with the chest now tucked tightly under the other. “If this is time travel malarkey, I don’t wanna crush a centipede or something and risk not being born when I get back.”
“You’re going?!”
“Hasta la vista! Now, where’s that stone?”

Kali looked on the ground and saw it right by her feet. She picked it up before Tony even got a chance to bend down.
“You are not going anywhere,” she said, pushing it into the front pocket of her jeans.
“Hand it over now!”
“Tony, think about it. I have no idea what that chest is or how valuable it is. And neither does anyone back home without some crazy theory.”
Kali watched Tony let this information sink in. He looked at the chest and then back at her.
“So,” she continued, “we’re in Greece. Ancient Greece. There’s no better opportunity than this to find out the chest’s origin.”
Again Tony looked at the chest and then back at Kali. “Where do we start?”
Kali grinned. “Well, there’s a festival going on. Pretty much everyone is going to be there taking part. All we need to do is ask some careful questions. Any indication that the chest might be valuable and we’ll have a fight on our hands. And it won’t be pretty. Most people are brought up as fierce warriors and won’t think twice about killing someone for their possessions. There aren’t such people as police just yet.”
“Right. Questions. Careful. Check. Maybe we should hide the chest before we go?”
“Good idea.”

They both looked around for a hiding place and couldn’t see anything. Tony crouched down and started to scoop earth with his hands. Kali hesitated for a second and then joined him. The earth was soft and it wasn’t long before they had dug a hole big enough to house the chest. They covered it with earth and Tony grabbed an handful of dried leaves and sprinkled them over the top. Kali ran over to a nearby olive tree and pulled off some branches. She stuck them upright in the earth about two metres away from the hole.
“Markers,” she said to Tony’s question before he could ask it. “And they’re just far enough away so that if anyone else thinks they’re markers and starts to dig, they won’t find it.”
Tony nodded, got up and started to brush his hands off on his jeans. Kali did the same thing and then realised something.
“We’re wearing jeans,” she said.
“Yes, Sherlock?”
“Jeans haven’t been invented yet?”
“Oh. Crap.”
“We’re gonna need one of those robe things like that old man was wearing.”
“Where from? The robe shop(?)”
Kali ignored the sarcastic remark and started to think. Obviously it would be easy to grab something if there was a market going on but there was nothing like that here. It was dark and a load of drunk people were starting to celebrate.
“The temple!” she suddenly exclaimed. “There will be offerings in the temple. People offer food, possessions, animals, everything. There must be some clothes there we can borrow!”
“Well done Watson!”
“What’s with the Arthur Conan Doyle references?”
“Who?”
Kali sighed. “Oh, come on, let’s go,” she said, and started off down the valley towards the Acropolis, Tony following closely behind.

As they trekked up the hill, the sun was really starting to get strong. The festival had started at dawn with all citizens processing from the north of the city at the Dipylon Gate. Even as the light became brighter, people were still processing through the Propylaea. Some people stopped there, sacrificing and making offerings to the small temple by the gateway, and then heading back.
“Why isn’t everyone going through that gateway?” Tony asked.
“They’re slaves,” Kali replied. “All citizens can take part but the slaves can’t go past the Propylaea and can’t enter the Acropolis.”
“Which is which?”
“The Propylaea is that gateway there. The Acropolis is the name of this hill. Slaves cannot come onto this hill or enter the temple at the top. That’s why they’re sacrificing to Athena by the Propylaea instead.”
“The temple?”
“Yeah, it’s dedicated to Athena Nike.”
“Like the trainers?”
“Uhm, well, ‘nike’ in Greek means ‘victory’ so yeah, I suppose that would make it an appropriate sports brand.”
“Right.”

They continued for a while. Kali was concerned that they were going to be spotted. She didn’t realise how quick the sun could rise and the longer they took, the more obvious they would be to the procession of people. She led Tony up the back of the hill, away from the front gateway of the temple where all the people were passing through. They slipped into the back and scrambled around a large statue in the middle of the courtyard. Kali motioned to Tony to keep quiet and he nodded in reply. Kali peered around the statue and saw people praying and offering possessions to the statue. She could smell the blood and entrails of the sacrificed animals and it made her feel sick. She glanced over at Tony and saw him with his hand clamped over his nose and mouth. He obviously felt the same way she did.

Slowly the crowd of people became thinner and by the time the last person had left, Kali and Tony had been waiting almost an hour, crouched behind the giant statue of Athena. Kali cautiously got up, stretching her arms and legs, and putting a finger to her mouth to tell Tony to remain quiet. He understood and started to stretch his limbs as well. They hunted through the pile of possessions and pulled out various robes, holding them against themselves to make sure they were long enough. They both chose white robes as they would be the coolest in the hot sun. Kali pulled the robe over her head and then took off her top through the large neck-hole. She glanced to see if Tony was watching her undress but he was too busy with the buttons on his shirt to notice her. Clothes and trainers were bundled up and wrapped into a striped woollen blanket. Kali then motioned to Tony to leave again by the back. As they moved, a priest came out of the side and they quickly ducked behind the statue again.

“Oh, it looks like a good haul this year,” the priest called out.
Kali and Tony both peeked out of either side of the statue and saw the priest motioning to another, more older priest. The older man came hobbling out and started to pick through the money.
“Yes, Tobias, there looks like enough to keep us in good health for another year.”
“Well, next year is the big one so we might be able to have some of the temple gold plated for that.”
“We can discuss this later. Come, lets check everyone has left and then we can call the others and pack this away.”
Kali and Tony looked at each other. Kali started to panic. What would happen if they were discovered? Tony suddenly grabbed her and pushed her to the ground, lying on top of her. Kali tried to push him off and but he held her down and whispered, “Sleep.” She closed her eyes and kept still. Tony had his head on her stomach and was keeping still too.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” The younger man had discovered them.
“Oh, Tobias,” the older man said. “They must have gotten drunk and fell asleep. Come along now,” he said to them, poking him with his stick.
“Ow,” Tony said, as the stick dug into his leg.
“Yes, yes, wake up! Run along home now,” Tobias ordered.
Kali and Tony got up, bowed slightly, and run out the front of the temple.

“Phew, narrow escape,” Tony said, sounding very pleased with himself, as they exited the temple and made their way across the courtyard.
Kali just looked at him and started to make her way down the hill.
“Don’t thank me or anything,” Tony called after her, running to catch up.
Kali just kept walking ahead, ignoring him.
“So, what did that guy means by the big one?”
“What?” Kali turned but didn’t stop walking.
“The guy back there said, ‘Next year is the big one’.”
“He means the Great Panathanaea. It’s like the festival we’ve just witnessed except it’s much bigger and they have games and competitions and stuff. It’s held every four years goes on for four days.”
“Games? Like the Olympics?”
“Yeah, except the Olympics is a separate thing. They have other big game events as well. I can’t remember all of them right now. Too busy trying to think what to do next. I don’t even know where to start!”
Tony remained quiet. He didn’t seem to know either. Not that Kali was surprised. He was beginning to be a bit of a millstone.

They reached the city and walked through a maze of streets. Wherever they looked they saw single storey dwellings, often very narrow with only one visible entrance, a hole carved out as a door. There were not even any holes in the walls to act as windows or ventilation. It was very basic living.
“I wonder what year this is?” Kali queried aloud.
“Got me,” Tony replied. “But it’s way back if you ask me.”
“Your helpfulness knows no bounds(!)”
“Well, I don’t know! You’re the smarty pants around here.”

They reached a giant square at the end of the street and saw nothing but dried mud and dust on the ground.
“This must be where they hold the market,” Kali commented.
“So where is it?”
“In case you didn’t notice, every citizen has just been to a festival and will now be sleeping off the alcohol.”
“Oh yeah.” Tony paused. “What, even the kids?”
“No laws,” Kali shrugged. “It’s all watered down anyway. I’ve read some accounts where people get drunk very quickly because they have been drinking undiluted wine. I assume it’s nothing like the wine strengths we have.”
“We should try some.”
“Maybe, but it’s probably a bit early in the day for that.”
“I’m hungry.”
“I’m knackered. It’s something like midnight back home.”
“True. But I’m hungry as well. We need food.”
They stopped walking and looked around. There was not one indication of where they could find either food or a bed.
“No food,” stated Kali. “Maybe we should sleep first? The market might happen later.”
“Good idea,” Tony agreed. “Well, as for sleeping, I guess it’s an outside job. Bagsy the blanket pile there.”
Tony pointed to a large pile of blankets outside one of the mud huts. Kali saw it was easily big enough for both of them. Tony walked over and pulled them apart.
“Come on,” he said, patting it, “plenty of room.”
Kali half-smiled and got settled on the blankets. They were surprisingly soft and she was asleep in moments.