After half an hours there was a lighthouse ahead, which I reached after another half an hour. It was an old lighthouse, probably working with an automatic beacon. There was a path leading northwest.

I followed the path and started to run after I had some distance from the lighthouse. I continued until I was short of breath and walked on with a slow pace until my winds were back again.

The coast turned a bit more to the west soon. The shore was still rocky while the mountains loomed to my left. The path continued along the shore for a while.

After turning west a small bay forced me to turn back south a bit while the path was winding through a steep slope. I had to walk more carefully.

Then I could see some terraces ahead with a few houses. A larger structure was a bit up the mountain. The path was still winding along the shore but after a while it went uphill and ended at a small road leading further up the mountain.

I avoided the few people that were on the street, which turned right, still leading up. I passed a small church to the right and few other houses as the street wound up the mountains flank.

At the next branching I went straight, as it was the larger road. As soon as the houses were left behind I pushed on, turning to an alternating run and walk mode again. As the road kept heading mostly north I was happy to follow it, gaining altitude.

I passed a smaller peak to the right soon, but the street turned to the west at point, but it went down again at least. After about another kilometer there was a village ahead. I passed a few single houses along the road.

Soon, it was clear that the road went right through the village. To the righ was a light forest so I took the next opportunity to leave the road and followed the rim of the village under the trees. My eyesight in the dark was definitely better than I was used to.

After skulking through the forest for a while I finally reached a road leading away from the village again.

I left the village behind and the road started to wind up higher into the mountains. I had to hide beside the street two times because of an approaching car, but they were visible long before they actually reached my position so that wasn’t a problem.

Two more churches were on my way up the mountain and the road headed further away from the coast. It was a long way up but I finally reached a pass. After trudging along a forested area for a while there were only a few shrubs growing by the road ahead which went down to the west coast ahead.

I went into hiding as I heard a car approaching from behind be. It was a small truck. As it approached my hiding place the truck slowed down considerably. I could see the driver fumbling with a mobile or a similar device while driving on.

There was a step and a handle at its backside. Quickly I jumped on the street and sprinted after the truck.

I jumped on the step, squatting down while grabbing the handle. Just as I found a bearable posture the truck sped up again. It was a box wagon and it sped with an insane speed down the winded road. The handle was holding. It wouldn’t be comfortable in the long run though. It took some time to regain my wind.

I looked up. The box had a real edge. The next time the driver hit his breaks with virtue I squatted up and reached for the rim of the box. Quickly I pulled myself up and up on the roof. The roof was groaning a bit until I was laying flat on the roof.

The driver continued on his race down the winding road. I clamped my hands down on the rims to the sides and spread out my legs a bit to avoid rolling off at the turns.

We were generally headed north and passed several smaller towns. Later the truck turned west for a while, turning northwest until we reached a larger town.

“How long were we driving on this truck, Cassie?” I monitored the empty streets.

“Two hours.” Cassie answered in an instant.

I should have kept that smartphone, but considering the only way to leave the Peloponnese was to the northeast, that would be a safe direction. Athens wouldn’t be difficult to miss after passing Corinth.

Going by car was much more convenient. The truck entered a parking lot and the driver left after a few minutes, driving off with a car. I hoped there were no security cameras around.

A while later I let myself down from the roof of the truck. There seemed to be a kind of business with a private parking lot adjacent. It looked like a car rental.

To the left was an orchard and there were only smaller houses, mostly businesses along the street. We were in Greece. I knew all the letters, but couldn’t read a word.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The driver left north. I still had a few hours till dawn so I decided to leave the main road as soon as possible to head north. The next side-road to the east turned south again after few meters, so I took the next one and reached an area with residential houses mixed with orchards.

The houses got sparser after a while and I was walking along small streets passing more orchards. There was an occasional house as well.

I followed the smaller roads, mostly to the east for a while when I reached a small river! I stepped into the water and started to follow it upstream to the north. I would try to drink the water at some point, but I wanted to pass the town first, just in case.

Along the river were patches of trees and scrubs which didn’t look like they were used for agriculture. There were plenty of gravel banks along the river as well. I passed a larger bridge as it started to dawn.

A few hundred meters upstream I hid in the scrubs growing by the river to get some sleep. My muscles were not sore at all fortunately, but I had to see how it would be when I woke up again.

“Do you have to sleep, Cassie?” I asked my favored personal assistant.

“Of course not, Stella.” She replied.

“Can you monitor the surroundings and wake me up if someone approaches?” I sat down between denser scrubs.

“I could perfectly do that for you, Stella.” She announced.

“I try to get some sleep then.” I yawned and made myself as comfortable as I could.

I fell asleep after a while. I woke up in the afternoon. The sun was still up, but it was quite a bit cooler near the river. I yawned and sat up to peep over the shrubs around me. There was no one around. The road was empty as well. I got to my feet and stretched myself for a few minutes.

The road by the river was deserted. I went down to the water and walked in to cool down a bit and to clean myself as good as I could.

“There is someone behind you!” Cassie hissed suddenly.

I whirled around. An older man wearing shorts, a hawaiian shirt and with a sombrero on his head stood on the gravel bank towards the road.

“Hellas! Hello!” He waved at me.

“Aaahh!” I blushed while I crouched down to hide myself in the water.

My bag was laying on the gravel bank. The water was deep enough to reach to my neck now.

“Do you speak English?” He spread out his arm with the palms opened in my direction.

He had a strong German accent.

“YYes. I do speak English. WWhat are you doing here?” I looked at him with wide eyes.

“I wantet to throw a look at the riffer and den I herd splashes.” He shrugged.

“WWell. Yyou surprised me.” I gulped and slowly squatted up again.

“You’re big!” he took a step back.

He had some problems with English, but at least he seemed to be willing to speak regardless. Maybe he could help me. As a tourist we would have many ties to the locals, so this might be save enough.

“I need help, please!” I needed a story quick.

“Why? Is dere ennifing dangeruus?” He started to check the treeline.

“No. Nothing dangerous.” I tried to appease him.

He relaxed noticeably.

“I was kicked out by my fiancé out of our mobile home after an argument after he talked me into wearing these. I don’t even have shoes!” I waved at my current attire.

“No shoess? How cut hee? Why dittent you go to de police” He furrowed his brows.

“I don’t speak the language. And I was too embarrassed to go anywhere. I hid in these trees for the night!” I was still blushing furiously.

“How can I help you senn?” He looked at his feet.

“Do you have a car?” I started to walk towards the gravel bank.

I was totally soaked. I had to buy clothes anyway. The sooner the better.

“I have a Wohnmobil. A big car.” He pointed towards the road.

“I want to go to Athens. I do know the combination to the safe where we left the tickets for our flight back.” I furrowed my brows.

“I can take you at Corint. I drive dere today.” He looked a me with pity.

“That would be nice, sir.” I tried a timid smile.

“Sen come.” He turned around and headed to the trees.

I picked up my bag and followed him up to the road. A smaller mobile home parked nearby. He headed towards the mobile home. The afternoon sun started to dry my skin.

He opened the door to the passenger seat.

“Wait. I take a tauel.” He vanished to the door inside the vehicle and came back with a large towel which he draped over the seat. Then he nodded at me.

I got into the car. There was plenty of place. For a normal sized person. I sorted my legs out and my head touched the ceiling, but I found a bearable sitting position after a while.

He closed the door and vanished again to the inside. I could hear him rummage and a few moments later he handed me another big towel. I draped the towel around my shoulder, covering my breast and tummy to a comfortable degree.

He started the engine and drove back to the bridge I passed yesterday. He turned left and then headed straight on, leaving the town behind after few minutes.

It was the first time I had an eye for the rough but beautiful landscape as we slowly followed a larger road, the E961, north.

I had forgotten to refill my bottles and my stomach started to feel empty. I had been hungry all the way, but somehow the stress hat kept in check to a degree.

“Here take sat.” He handed me a package with salted peanuts.

My mouth started to water as I opened the package. I emptied the package in no time. I drank the rest of the last opened bottle. I had one remaining.

“Thank you.” I gave him a smile.

“Never mind.” He smiled back.

We turned right and passed another town about half an hour later.

Handling the situation at the river had gone well. I would be in Corinth in a few hours, which was quite a progress for now.

My clothed dried quickly in the hot dry afternoon air. I kept the towel slung around my shoulder though.

“Why do you have a blue skin?” The old man shot me a curious glance.

“It’s called silver poisoning. I tried to get rid of an infection by enriching my food with silver. It didn’t really help but permanently changed the color of my skin. Yes. I know it was a stupid idea, but there is nothing I can do about about it now.” I looked through the window to my right.

“Oh. I didn’t kno sat such a sing was possipple.” He shook his head.

“I learned it the hard way.” I focused on the road ahead.

“I’m Ritchart by the way.” He frowned at a car pulling back to our lane only a few meters in front of us.

“I’m Stella.” I ruffled through my hair. It had dried considerable in the meantime.

He went silent again while we continued to head towards Corinth.