Chapter Text
"I already checked," yelled Yulius. "There's no one in the bushes!"
"The blueberry bush!" Old man Horris was leaning on his cane as he peeked out the kitchen window through the curtains. "I saw one of them Islander bastards hiding in the blueberry bush."
Yulius rolled his eyes. "It's not winter yet," he said as he pulled the old man away from the window and towards the table. "Islanders don't come to our village outside of winter. Now eat your breakfast."
He took Horris' cane and leaned it against the table. Yulius sighed in relief as the old man ate the porridge without fuss.
"Where's your brother?" Horris asked between mouthfuls.
"At the ranch. Burnt Ayaaks came by this morning, complaining about Dafni's brother being in his barn again. Loukas went to convince the man to go home." Yulius looks out the window and sees the sun high in the sky. "He should have been back by now."
"What does Ilais' boy have to do with the ranch?" Asked Horris.
"Sir Ilais' son is Golden Ayaaks. Burnt Ayaaks is the ranchers ward. You've met him so many times."
Horris hummed as he continued to eat. After he finished, he placed the bowl in the bucket of dirty dishes. "Go find your brother, I need to speak with him."
Yulius promptly left the house, glad for an excuse to take a break from the old man. He sent a prayer to Mother Reha to keep Horris from making a fuss in his absence. As he crossed the frog bridge, Golden Ayaaks ran past him in a blur of yellow. Yulius almost stepped on the frogs littered on the bridge as he ran to catch up to his friend, discovering a fish in his hands as he did.
"Is that fish for Hel's cat?" Yulius asked as both boys raced through the narrow path in the barley field.
"Yeah, she's been nagging me all morning." Ayaaks huffed out. "Mangy beast won't eat the fish unless it's still alive."
"Uh huh," agreed Yulius. "And he only eats while sitting on his stinky pillow."
The boys ran down the path and hopped over the ditch as Ayaaks continuously complained about Helen and her cat. "If I don't listen to that ugly rat, she complains to my mom and gets me in trouble."
Yulius grinned. "To be fair, you do always pull her hair and call her ugly."
"Yeah," Ayaaks answered as he opened the door to Helen's house. "Because she's ugly and deserves to be bald."
"Who's ugly and deserves to be bald?!" Helen screamed as she stood on the stairs.
"You." Ayaaks answered as he threw the fish. It landed on Helen's face with a loud smack, causing her to scream again as she fell backwards. "Go feed your beast, I'm eating breakfast."
"Get breakfast from your own house!" Yelled Helen as she grabbed the fish that had fallen to the floor.
"I'll start getting breakfast from my own house when I stop working on your cotton field."
Helen huffed as she scampered upstairs to feed her beloved cat.
"Did you eat yet?" Asked Ayaaks as he cut himself a slice of bread.
"Yeah. I ate with Loukas this morning. Oh yeah, old man Horris asked me to go get him." Yulius groaned. "I hate going to the ranch. That Hristos is always there."
"Hristos? Dafni's brother?" Ayaaks asked with his mouth full of cheese.
"Yeah, he's back in the ranch again, feeding his letters to goats."
"Huh, my dad found Hristos sleeping in the cotton field last night. And in our barley field the night before." Ayaaks stuffed the slice of bread in his mouth.
"Yeah. I feel sorry for Dafni. Imagine having to constantly worry about your crazy older brother like a mother."
Ayaaks snorted. "Like your life is any different. All your life you've been living with Old Man Horris." Yulius glared as Ayaaks continued. "Look, there's a reason he lives on that tall hill away from everybody else."
"Why is this village filled with madmen?" Asked Yulius as both boys left the house and hopped to the other side of the ditch.
"It's the goats this village is infested with. They're crazy, so they rubbed it onto us."
"Yeah, goats." Yulius laughed. "Well, I should go find my brother."
"See ya!"
Yulius and Ayaaks parted ways, and Yulius made his way upstream by the ditch. Hristos' house was on the way to the ranch and Yulius was hoping that Loukas was there so that he would not have to go all the way to the ranch. He knocked on the door.
The door sprang open to short, wide-eyed Dafni. Her twin braids were unkept and her apron was wrinkled. "Yuli!" She stood on her toes to see over him. "Did your brother bring mine back?"
Yulius groaned. "Aw, so Loukas isn't here?"
Dafni frowned, tearing up. "No, and neither is Hristos. He hasn't been home for four days"
"Well don't worry." Yulius smiled in reassurance. "I'm going up to the ranch to grab my brother, Hristos was there too so we'll bring him back here."
Dafni stayed leaning against the door as Yulius left to make his way to the ranch. He took the shortcut through the bushes and climbed over the thick log fence of the ranch. He squinted his eyes as he scanned the field, catching sight of only Burnt Ayaaks. Like his name suggested, the young man was burned all over by the sun.
"Ayaaks! Where's my brother?!" Yulius yelled as they jogged towards each other.
"Hristos ran off half an hour ago, Luke ran after him."
Yulius groaned. "You know where?"
"Ah... east I think. So probably towards—"
"—the pumpkin girl. Thanks." Yulius turned around and left the way he came, cursing the madness that seemed to run rampant in their village. Every other man had an ill mind, and the ability to make it the rest of the village's problem.
The pumpkin girl was actually a young woman and mother to a two year old child. She began living on the far east side of the village almost three years ago, and no one had known her little redheaded boy existed until last year. Except Hristos, he knows from the beginning because he half lived at the poor woman's house.
Yulius spotted one of the olive farmers riding a horse east, and asked him for a ride. Thanks to the speed of the horse, it did not take long to reach. The house was small, and there was a garden bursting full of tomatoes next to it.
He knocked on the door. "Miss Pump—ah, Miss Penelope?" He could hear her son crying and a man talking. Penelope opened the door looking even more haggard than Dafni did. Dark eyebags, a bush of unkempt hair, food stains on her clothes, and a crying toddler shrieking in her arms.
"Oh thank goodness! Are you here for those two?" She nodded to the two men sitting on the floor.
Yulius followed the woman's gaze behind her to see two men hunched over tinkering with something shiny. The golden brown hair of one man blended into the jet black hair of the other man.
"Brother!"
The black haired man jerked his head around, smiling as he saw Yulius. "Yuli! What brings you here?"
"Horris is looking for you. And Dafni wants her brother home too."
Loukas nodded. "Yes, alright."
He turned to Hristos who was still focused on tinkering with the shiny trinket.
"Hristos." He grabbed the older man's chin and lifted his head to make eye contact. "Do you want the shiny watch all fixed?" Hristos nodded. "Okay, then you must complete two little missions for us."
"Mission?" Asked Hristos.
"Yes, missions." Confirmed Loukas. "First, spend your whole day with Danfi. Who is Dafni?"
"...sister..."
"Good job, she is your sister. The second mission is to sleep in your bed tonight. Where will you sleep tonight?"
"My bed."
"Good job. Tell us both of your missions."
"Dafni and bed."
"Good job! We will ask Dafni about your missions tomorrow. Keep doing a good job and we will have the shiny watch fixed."
"Give to Penny?"
"Yes, after it is fixed you may give it to Penny." Loukas helped Hristos up and walked him out behind Yulius and nodded to Penelope on his way out.
Getting Hristos home was a longer affair. They could not rely on a horse due to the danger of Hristos jumping off and neither brother wished to play nursemaid that morning. The sun was scorching on their backs by the time they made it to Dafni's house.
Convincing Hristos that Dafni was indeed Dafni and not someone else was also a very long affair. After many gentle nudges and soft coaxing done on Loukas' part, Hristos was settled in and Dafni seemed to look five years younger.
There was a silence for a few long moments between the brothers as they walked home.
"How are you so patient with Hristos? Even with Horris, you never yell or get angry."
Loukas sighed and thought for a moment. "Well, why do you think those men are the way they are?"
Yulius rolled his eyes. "I know they're mad. I'm asking about you, your patience with them."
"Why are they mad?" Asked Loukas.
"I don't know." Yulius shrugged. "The running joke's to blame it on the goats."
Loukas gave a soft laugh. "It is loss. The winter raids have given our village so much to mourn. Some handle it better than others, and some were dealt a softer blow than others."
"Oh." Responded Yulius. He could feel guilt dwelling in his stomach. Yulius was aware that his life was significantly better than many others, better than his elder brothers. They were both orphans, yet Loukas was the only one who remembered their parents.
"Did Horris say why he wanted us?" Loukas asked as they crossed the frog bridge.
"No, just that he needed to speak with you."
Loukas hummed. He stopped before the door and crouched down in front of Yulius. "We hope you know, you are a wonderful boy." He brushed his little brother's hair off his face. "You take such good care of our old man. Most ten year olds cannot handle such a great responsibility, but you handle it better than most adults."
The knot of guilt in his stomach loosen. Yulius gave a shaky smile. "Really?"
"Yes. Now go do your chores." Loukas ruffled his little brother's hair.