Chapter 25 Chapter 24

For several months, the Pandoraki and Petrakis families had no contact.However, thinking about Sophia, for her, even if this is an ice age, it must be passed.Elevatoria wanted to change his mind and speed up the reconciliation, and even Alexandros, after having time to reflect, came to understand that it wasn't just his family that was being hurt.He understands that the ongoing damage has weighed heavily on both families, and he measures their respective losses with exacting, almost mathematical precision.On the Pandorakis' side - a son in prison, a nephew in disgrace, the family name ruined.On Petkis' side - a dead daughter.One family disappears to murder, before another disappears to leprosy.After his calculations, the two sides evened out.Standing in the middle is Sophia, and together they all have a responsibility to create a life for this little girl.

Finally, Alexandros wrote to Giorgis. We have our differences, but it's time to end it.Sophia is growing up without her parents around and the best thing we can give her is love and the company of other family members.Aleftria and I would be delighted if you and Maria could come to lunch next Saturday. Giorgis didn't have a phone at home, but he hurried to the tavern and used the phone there.He wanted Alexandros to know at once that they had accepted the invitation and were happy to go to lunch, and he left a message to the Pandorakis' steward, asking him to convey it so.However, after Maria read the letter, she had mixed feelings.

"Our differences!" she scoffed. "What did he mean? How could he describe the fact that his son killed your daughter as 'our differences'?" Maria was furious. "Is he not responsible? Where's the guilt? Where's the apology?" she cried, waving the letter in the air. "Listen, Maria, calm down. He's not responsible because he's not," Giorgis said. "A father can't be responsible for all the actions of his children, can he?" Maria thought for a while.She knew her father was right.It would be a different world if parents were to take responsibility for their children's mistakes.That meant that Giorgis' eldest daughter was at fault for her husband's killing her because of her reckless infidelity.That was obviously absurd.She had to admit it reluctantly, though reluctantly.

"You're right, Papa," she said, "you're right. The only thing that really matters is Sophia." After this, the two families came to a kind of rapprochement, acquiescing that both parties were at fault for the disaster that destroyed them both.Sophia, from the beginning, was well protected.She lives with her grandparents, but every week she goes to Plaka and spends a day there with her grandpa and aunt, who do everything they can to entertain her.Go out to sea by boat, catch crabs and catch sea urchins, paddle in the sea, and walk along the cliff path for a while.By the time they drove Sofia back to her grandparents' house near Elounda at six o'clock, everyone was exhausted.Sofia was in some ways lucky to be doted on by her grandparents and grandfather.

Spring slowly turned into early summer, and Krittis calculated that two hundred days had passed since the day Anna was buried and he drove Maria to Elounda, and he knew that there was no way they would ever be together in the future.Every day he tries to keep himself from thinking about what could have been.His life is still as regular as before: he enters the hospital on time at 7:30 in the morning, leaves at about 8:00 pm, spends the night alone, or reads, or studies, or answers letters.It also keeps him very busy, and many people envy him for his concentration, which is so focused on everything he does.

During the weeks of the exodus of lepers from Spinalonga, word spread throughout Crete that the island would no longer be a leprosy quarantine.Many people who were previously afraid that others would know they might have leprosy turned up from their villages to seek help.Now that they knew that treatment did not mean incarceration in a leprosy colony, they were not afraid to let others know, and they flocked to the doctor who was known to have cured Cretan of leprosy.Dr. Kritis is very humble and not immersed in glory, but his reputation is widely spread.Once diagnosed, patients came to him for regular dapsone injections, usually within a few months of gradually increasing doses.

For many months, Krittis continued his work as department head at the important and busy hospital in Heraklion.To see his patients healed, out of the hospital for good, and away from him was the greatest reward for him.Yet all he felt was a terrible emptiness.He felt empty in the hospital, empty at home, and had to struggle every day to get out of bed and back to the hospital.He even started asking if he really wanted to prescribe the medicine himself?Can someone else take his place?Do people really need him? Just when he felt dispensable in the hospital and empty outside the hospital, he received a letter from Dr. Lapakis.Since Spinalonga closed, he's married and is now chief of dermatology at St. Nicholas General Hospital.

It occurred to Kritis that if someone like Christopher Lapakis, whom he admired, found satisfaction in working in St. Nicholas, maybe he should choose to go there as well.If Maria couldn't come to him, he could go to her.Every Tuesday, the Cretan Daily newspaper would publish hospital job advertisements, and each week he would browse through them, hoping to find a job closer to the woman he loved.Over the past few weeks, there had been a few suitable jobs at Hariah's side, but none of them were further from what he wanted.One day, he received another letter from Lapakis, and he finally woke up.

Although not explicitly told, Lapakis knew of a relationship between his colleague and Maria Petrakis, and was disappointed to hear that Kritis had returned to Heraklion alone.He guessed that Maria felt obligated to stay with her father, that the whole thing was a pity. Crittis read it over and over before putting the letter into the top pocket of his white coat, and he took it out to read it several times during the day, skimming through the words again and again.While the job at St. Nicholas might close all doors in his career, one door would open in his life—and then it would be possible to be closer to Maria.He wrote to his old friend that night, asking him how he should take advantage of the opportunity—what was the process, how many candidates were there to interview, and so on.Lapakis replied that if Krittis could write a formal letter of application within the week, the hospital would likely consider him for the position.In fact, they all knew that Kritis was far superior to the talent requirements for this position.From being a department head in an urban hospital to being the same department head in a small hospital, no one doubts that he is up to the job.The hospital was delighted, though somewhat puzzled, that someone of his caliber and reputation should apply for the position.He was called for an interview, and within days he received confirmation that he was available for the position.

Kritis planned to stabilize his new life before contacting Maria.He didn't want her to object to his professional regression and wait until it was all done to tell her.In less than a month, he settled down in a small house near the hospital and set off for Plaka, which is only a twenty-five-minute drive away.It was a Sunday afternoon in May, and Maria's pale face was full of surprise when she opened the front door and saw Kritis standing there. "Nicolas!" she gasped. A small voice seemed to speak from under Maria's skirts, and a small face appeared behind her, no higher than her knees.

"Who is he, Aunt Maria?" "It's Dr. Kritis, Sophia." Her answer was barely audible. Maria stepped aside and Crittis stepped over the threshold.When he passed by, she looked at his back, still neat and straight.On Spinalonga, she had seen him so many times when he left her house and walked up Main Street to the hospital.Suddenly, Maria felt as if she had just returned from the island, but for a moment she seemed to be daydreaming about the future. Maria's hands trembled so much that the cups jingled as she set out the cup and saucer.Then she and Krittis sat comfortably in hardwood chairs, sipping coffee, just as they used to do in Spinalonga.Maria tried to find something to say, but it was in vain.It was Kritis who spoke bluntly. "I moved," he said. "Where are you moving?" Maria asked politely. "Saint Nicholas." "Saint Nicholas?" She almost choked on the words.Surprise and pleasure mixed together, she tried to think about the meaning of his statement. "Sophia," she said to the little girl, who was sitting at the table drawing, "why don't you go upstairs and bring down that new doll and show it to Dr. Crittis..." As the little girl went upstairs to get her toy, Crittis leaned forward.It was the third time in her life that she heard the words: "Marry me." She knew that Giorgis was now able to take care of himself.They made concessions on Anna's death, and Sofia brought joy to their lives.St. Nicholas was not far from here, and Maria could visit her father several times a week, as well as Sofia.Within a second, these things went through her mind, and before she could breathe, she gave him the answer. Soon, Giorgis returned.He hadn't been happier since the day he knew Maria was well.By the next day word had spread throughout Plaka that Maria Petrakis was going to marry the man who had cured her, and wedding preparations began immediately.Fotini, always hopeful that Maria and Kritis will finally get together, is now devoting herself to the preparations.Before the ceremony, she and Stefanos would throw a party, after which the friends could gather in the bistro and start the feast. They made an appointment with the pastor to hold the wedding two weeks later.There is no reason to wait any longer.The couple already had a house to live in, they had known each other for years, and Maria already had a dowry and a wedding dress, which she had bought to wear when she married Manoli.For five years it lay under a box, wrapped in layers of crumpled paper.A day or two after Crittis proposed, Maria opened it, shook out the creases, and tried it on. Still fits the way it does and is just as beautiful as the day I bought it.Her figure hasn't changed a bit. "It's perfect," Fotini said. The night before the wedding, the two women were at Fotini's house, planning how Maria should style her hair. "Do you think it brings bad luck that I'm wearing a wedding dress that was supposed to be another wedding? A wedding that never took place?" "Bad luck?" Fotini said. "I think your bad luck has run out, Maria. I must tell you the truth. I thought your life was really bad, but not now." Maria held her wedding dress in front of the long mirror in Fotini's bedroom.The seersucker was still fluffy, and the lace skirt cascaded around her, the fabric rustling against her ankles.Her head was thrown back and turned like a child. "You're right...you're right...you're right..." she sings rhythmically, out of breath, "you're right...you're right...you're right of……" Turning dizzy, Maria stopped and fell on her back on the bed behind her. "I feel," she said, "that I'm like the luckiest woman in the world. There's no one else in the world who can be as happy as I am." "You deserve it, Maria, you really deserve it," replied her old friend. There was a knock on the bedroom door and Stephanos poked his head in. "Sorry to bother you," he said cheerfully, "We have a wedding tomorrow and I'm getting ready for the reception and I really need help." The two women laughed.Maria jumped up from the bed and threw the wedding dress on the chair.They followed Stephanos down the stairs, giggling like they were kids, the excitement of their big day in the air. Woke up to a bright May day.Everyone in the village came and followed the wedding procession the short way from Maria's house to the church on the other side of the village.They all want to be sure that this beautiful black-haired woman in white gauze can complete the wedding ceremony safely, and this time, nothing will stop her and her happy marriage.The church doors remained open during the ceremony, and people craned their necks to see the whole procession at the end of the aisle.Dr. Lapakis was the officiant, well known to everyone in Plaka.People remember him going to and from Spinalonga every day, but few people remember Crittis.He passed by in Plaka briefly, though they all knew his importance in dismantling the leprosy quarantine. The couple stood on the altar, and the priest crowned them with flowers.There was silence in the church, and people standing outside in the sun were asked to be quiet and try to listen to what was said inside. "Servant of the Lord, Maria, wear the wreath, Servant of the Lord, Nicholas...in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit forever. O Lord, our Lord, in Thy glory They are crowned." Everyone quietly listened to the priest recite the familiar wedding address, St. Paul's letter to Ephesus, and St. John's letter.There was no rush or sloppy in the whole ceremony.This is the most solemn ceremony, and the process of the ceremony makes the two people standing on the altar feel more meaningful.An hour later, the priest concluded the service. "Let us pray for the bride and groom, may they be merciful, safe, healthy, and saved. May Christ, our true Lord, appear in Cana of Galilee, approve of the dignity of the wedding, have mercy on us, Lord , Jesus Christ, have mercy on us." The sound of "Amen" echoed in the church, and the service was over.Marzipan was distributed to the church guests, as well as those standing outside.Marzipan is a symbol of everyone wishing Maria and Critics to enjoy wealth and happiness.No one does not wish them so. Giorgis sits in the first pew of the church, next to Aleftria and Alexandros Pandoraki.It was a public expression of their reconciliation, and in the middle sat little Sophia, fascinated and excited by the splendor and variety of the wedding.For Giorgis, he felt strongly that it was all over again, he was sure that all sorrows were over, and he felt at peace for the first time in years. Maria came out, crowned with flowers, and with the groom, the crowd cheered, and followed them into the sun to the tavern, where the revelry was about to begin.Stefanos had set up the wedding banquet and entertained that evening's guests with generosity.Throughout the evening, the wine was poured and the corks of the Chicordia bottles were uncorked.Under the starry sky, the musicians continued to play until the feet of the dancing people went numb.Only no fireworks. They spent the first two nights of their marriage in a grand hotel overlooking the harbor of St. Nicholas, but both were eager to begin a new phase of their lives.In the two weeks leading up to the wedding, Maria made several visits to the married home.It was her first time living in a busy town and she was experiencing a wonderful change.The home was on a steep hill next to the hospital, and like the others on the street, it had a carved cast-iron patio and floor-to-ceiling windows.It was a tall, narrow house with two flights of stairs, and the walls were painted a light jasper color. Dr. Crittis himself was a newcomer, so there was no gossip when he took his bride into his new home, which was far enough from Maria's old home to start her new life.No one here except her husband knows her past medical history. Fotini was the first guest, along with Mateos and baby Petros, whom Maria proudly showed around the house. "Look at these huge windows!" Fotini sighed. "You can see the sea over there. Look, boys, there's a garden here!" The house was large, much larger than any house in Plaka, and the furniture was available and better than the rustic styles most people used at this time.The kitchen is also far more sophisticated than the one Maria grew up with: For the first time in her life, she has a refrigerator, modern cooking utensils, and no unannounced power outages. For months, Maria felt that life couldn't be more perfect.Maria loved her new home on top of the hill near the hospital and was soon decorating it to her own taste, hanging up her own embroidery samples and framed family pictures.However, one morning in September, she heard their newly installed telephone ring.It was Giorgis, who rarely called her, and she knew something must be wrong. "It's Eleftria," he never beat around the bush, "and she died this morning." Maria could hear the sadness in Giorgis's voice, which had been so close to the Pandorakis over the past few months.There was no sign of any disease, no prior sign of a stroke, which took the elderly woman suddenly and unexpectedly.The funeral was held a few days later. At the end of the ceremony, when Maria saw her little niece holding hands with her grandpa and grandpa, she slowly figured out the status quo—Sophia needed a mother. Maria could not get rid of the thought, it stuck in her mind like a thorn in the wool.The little girl is only three years old - what's next for her?Suppose Alexandros also died?It was quite possible that he was at least ten years older than Aleftria.She knew Giorgis couldn't take care of her alone.As for Sophia's father, although he pleaded for leniency at the trial, the judge imposed a severe sentence, and he would not be released from prison until Sophia was at least sixteen. After the funeral they sat drinking coffee in the dim living room of the Pandoraki home in Elounda, a house, with its ghastly family portraits and clunky furniture, that seemed designed for mourning—almost It fits so well.Now is not the time to discuss it with anyone, although she is eager to talk to people.The walls seemed to murmur too, and the voices were low and subdued, and it was felt that even the clink of glasses might break the seriousness of the calm.Maria had been trying to get up on a chair and announce her thoughts aloud, but she waited for over an hour until she had left before she could speak to Kritis.She grabbed his arm before they got into the car. "I have an idea," she blurted out, "about Sophia." She needn't say anything more.Critics is also thinking about the same problem. "I know," he replied. "The little girl has lost her mother and her grandmother. After all that, who knows how long Alexandros will live?" "He loves Aleftria so much, his heart is broken. I can't imagine what his life would be like without her." "We have to think carefully. But now is not the time to ask Sophia to live with us, but living with her grandfather is not a long-term solution, is it?" "Why don't we go talk to him in a few days?" Two days later, Maria and Nikolaos Kritis called Alexandros ahead of time to tell him they would be coming. Once again they were sitting in the living room of Alexandros Pandoraki's house.The imposing man seemed to have shrunk since the funeral, though he managed to hold his head high and dignified throughout the funeral. "Sophia's gone to bed," he said, taking a bottle of wine from the sideboard and pouring them both a glass, "or she'll be here to say hello to you." "We're here for Sophia," Maria said. "I think so," said Pandoraki, "that's not a matter of discussion." Maria turned pale.Maybe they made a terrible mistake this time around. "Aleftria and I discussed this a few months ago," said Vendoraki, "and we talked about how if one of us dies—of course we assume it's if I go first— —what about Sophia. We both feel that if one of us goes away, it would be the best arrangement for our granddaughter to be looked after by someone younger." Even though Alexandros Vendoraki had been calling the shots for decades, they were surprised that he was now in complete control.They didn't have to say another word. "The best solution for Sophia is to let her live with you," he said to them both. "Have you considered it? I know you like her very much, Maria, and as her aunt, you are her closest friend." loved ones." For a moment Maria tried to say something, but Crittis said all that was necessary. The next morning, after Kritis finished his work in the hospital, he and Maria returned to the Vandoraki's house, where they began to prepare for Sophia's new life.This weekend, she will be moving into St. Nicholas' home. Maria was nervous at first.Less than a year after leaving Spinalonga, she became a wife and now, almost overnight, a mother to a three-year-old girl.However, she needn't be afraid.Sophia was ahead of her, and she happily accepted to live with the couple, who were younger and more alive than their grandparents.Despite all the traumas at the start of her life, she grew up apparently carefree, enjoyed playing with the other children, and soon found many friends on the street where they lived. Critics was also a little anxious as a new father.Although there was a child among his patients, he had very little contact with a child as young as Sophia.Sophia, too, was wary of him at first, but soon discovered that the slightest tease could bring a smile to his stern face.Critius doted on her more and more, and soon was often criticized by his wife. "You're too used to her." Maria scolded when she saw Sophia running around Kritis. After Sofia went to school, Maria began training to work in a hospital pharmacy.It seemed that working with her natural herbs was perfect, and she continues to use them to treat people.Once a week, Maria would take Sofia to her grandfather's house, and now Alexandros was like Maria's own father.Maria learned to drive after marriage.Sophia would spend the night with Grandpa, who had a bedroom reserved just for her.Maria came to pick her up the next day, and usually they would then go to Plaka to see Giorgis.Almost every time they go there, they go to see Fotini, Sofia playing with Mateos and Petros on the beach below the restaurant, the two women talking about their recent life. Lived happily and peacefully for a while.Sophia enjoyed visiting her grandpa and grandpa once a week and enjoying growing up in a busy port town.In the end, the fact that Maria and Nicholas were not her real parents was slowly forgotten.Their house in San Nicolas became the only memory of her childhood.The only flaw in life is that Sophia has no siblings.They seldom brought up the subject, but it weighed heavily on Maria's heart—she hadn't been able to have a child herself. When Sophia was nine years old, Alexandros van Doraki died.He walked away peacefully in his sleep, every detail of the will had already been sorted out.The estate was left to his two daughters and their families, and a large sum of cash for Sophia, to be managed by a board of trustees. Three years later, Giorgis became bedridden with a chest infection and moved to Maria's home in San Nicolás, where he was cared for.Over the next two years, his teenage granddaughter sat on the bed and played backgammon with him for hours every day.One autumn day, before Sophia came home from school, he left.Both women in his life were extremely sad.They were a little relieved to see so many people coming to the funeral.The funeral was held in Plaka, where he lived all his life, and more than a hundred villagers packed the church to mourn with great affection the taciturn fisherman who suffered so much in his life and never complained. One cold morning the following year, a letter arrived, in a typewritten envelope with an Heraklion postmark, addressed to "Sophia Vendoraki's guardian."Maria was very nervous when she saw the name.Sophia never knew she had a guardian.Maria grabbed the letter from the doormat and immediately hid it behind a drawer.A letter like this could only have come from one place, and Maria was terrified to see if her fears were justified when her husband returned. Around ten o'clock in the evening, Nicholas came home from a long day at the hospital.Sophia had gone to bed an hour ago.Nicholas carefully cut open the envelope with his silver letter cutter, and pulled out a piece of stiff letter paper—— They did not speak for a long time.But they read the bureaucratic note over and over again.Andres Vandoraki.This name once contained much wealth and hope.Even with that horrible event all those years ago, it's hard to believe that a man with so many privileges ended up in a cold, dank cell.Nicholas said nothing, stood up, put the letter back in the envelope, crossed the room, and locked the letter in his desk.Sophia couldn't possibly find it there. When Andrés' coffin was placed in the pauper cemetery two days later, Maria was the only one to mourn.Neither of his younger sisters came.They didn't even think about coming.It seemed to them that their brother had died a long time ago. It is the end of the 1960s, the first wave of tourism began to sweep Crete, and many people came to Agios Nikolaos for sightseeing, which attracted the Nordic people, the sun, the warm sea, and the cheap wine would make them Have fun killing time.Sophia is fourteen and headstrong.Parents are the pillars of society, but they are conservative and cautious.Soon, Sophia found that the effective way to resist them was to hang out in the streets with boys from France and Germany.Those guys couldn't be happier to be in the company of such a beautiful, buxom Greek girl with waist-length hair.Although Nicholas hated arguing with Sophia, they quarreled almost every day during the summer months. "She looks just like her mother," Maria said desperately.Sophia didn't come home that night. "But now it seems that the character is the same." "Well, I think I finally know now, which is more important, nature or upbringing." Kritis said sadly. Despite her otherwise rebellious nature, Sophia worked hard at school, and by the time she was eighteen, it was time to think about going to college.Maria never had the chance to go to college, which both she and Nicolas hoped Sofia would.Maria thought Sophia would go to Heraklion to go to college, but she let them down.From childhood, Sophia watched the big ships coming and going from the Greek mainland.She knew that Athens was where Nicholas studied and where she wanted to go.Maria, who had never left Crete, was terrified at the thought of Sofia being so enthusiastic about going that far. "But the universities in Heraklion are as good as those on the mainland," she said, pleading with Sophia. "I'm sure it's just as good," replied Sophia, "but what's wrong with walking away?" "There's nothing wrong with it," Maria argued, "but in my opinion, Crete is a big place. It has its own history, its own customs." "That's the point," Sophia said flatly, showing steely determination that nothing could reverse. "It's so wrapped up in its own culture that it sometimes seems isolated. I'd like to go to Athens or Thessa Lonica — at least they have connections to the rest of the world. There's so much going on there that we don't have access to here." Her eagerness to travel was nothing but a natural reaction for a girl her age.Now people of her age all want to go far away and see more of the world.But Maria was afraid, afraid of losing Sophia, and at the same time doubted the identity of Sophia's father.Manoli once said this, thinking that Crete is a small island on a big planet, and the possibilities outside the island are exciting.This wanderlust is strangely identical. When June came, Sophia made her decision.She was going to Athens, and her parents were out of her way.At the end of August, she set out on the road. The night before Sofia was due to sail for Piraeus, Maria and Nikolaos sat in the garden under an old trellis already covered with bunches of ripe purple grapes.Sophia is out.Nicholas sipped the last drops of a large bottle of McTaser. "We've got to tell her, tell Sophia," he said. no answer.Over the past few months, the two have discussed and discussed whether to tell Sophia that they are not her real parents.When Maria finally admitted that Manori might be Sophia's father, Krittis was determined that the girl must know the truth.Now that her father was probably living and working in Athens or somewhere because of that, she needed to know the truth.Maria knew that Nicholas was right and had to tell Sofia before she went to Athens, but she was putting it off every day. "Look, I don't mind talking to her," said Nicholas, "I just don't want to delay any longer." "Yes, yes. I know you're right," Maria said, taking a deep breath. "Let's tell her tonight." They sat on hot summer nights watching moths dance around the candlelight like ballerinas.The silence was occasionally broken by the rustling of a gecko crawling past, its tail touching a dead leaf as it scrambled up the house wall.Are those bright stars waiting for what is about to happen in her home?Maria thought.They're always watching, knowing what's going to happen before she does.It was late at night and Sophia hadn't come back yet, but they weren't about to give up, nor were they about to go to bed.They cannot put off until tomorrow what they have to do.At a quarter past eleven the night was getting cold and Maria was shivering a little. "Shall we go back to our room?" she said. Fifteen minutes passed slowly, and finally the front door was heard slamming shut.Sophia is back.

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