Back on Andros, I had never had any problems with the bureaucracy - they must have known I was there, but chose to ignore my long stay and the fact that by now I was doing occasional jobs helping Alekos out, like sweeping building sites or trying to de-plaster a wall.

Spring had arrived; wild flowers lolled across the hillsides in their reds, yellows, and blues; lambs romped in the fields; a breeze waltzed with the long green grass and trees in the groves; the sea winked in the sunlight and reached out to the horizon, the gentle lap of waves on the beach a siren song, the rocks out in the bay glistening with lovely mermaids, its cool waters beckoning you to join in its slow dance with the land. At sunset, when rich orange and purple swept across the sky, I walked down to Gavrion, and the sunset chorus began. Cows mooed, donkeys eyeored, sheep bleated, turkeys gobbled, dogs barked, horses neighed and whinnied. It was like a huge animal conversation at sunset, a sociable occasion for humans too, clustered as they were around the tavernas, cafes and bar of Gavrion. I was keeping my eye open for a glimpse of a pretty Greek girl I had developed a crush on when I saw her on the bus a few times on my way to the Hora. I had also met her briefly when Alekos introduced me to her at her grandparents' home when he had wanted to take some vine clippings for his garden. But she was an island girl, and rarely visible. I saw her ten or so years later with her husband and child, and I was holidaying at the time with my Turkish girlfriend . She talked to me briefly about then. "You were thin as a skeleton," she said. It was true, I had not been eating much in my attempt to stave off my rapidly-diminshing supply of cash. "You should have taken up fishing," she continued with a smile.
" I'd only have caught a few minnows or a mermaid," I said.
She laughed. "The mermaid would have caught you. Then, no matter how strong a swimmer you are, you wouldn't have survived. I still say you should have taken up fishing; I think you'd have seen a mermaid coming."
Incidentally, one of the symbols of Andros is a mermaid - a two tailed one. Also incidentally, the women of Andros in the olden days had a reputation for being both beautiful and easy with their morals, hence the title "The Woman of Andros", Thornton Wilder's not very good book set in Classical Greece. But the modern woman of Andros is nothing like her ancient reputation, except for her striking looks.
And so, I walked along the seafront of Gavrion, and looked out for my friend, but she was, as usual, nowhere to be seen. Never mind, I had other things to think about. I was on my way to Batsi to play the piano in a hotel there.