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“Me!” Adonis jumped up but slipped and landed on a knee as he came down. He started to cry.
The three grown-ups gathered around him.
Stavros scooped him up. “Where does it hurt?”
“Knee.” Adonis’s cry was muffled with his head buried in Stavros’s shoulder.
“You scraped it.” Rose rummaged through her bag for the emergency kit. She extricated a Band-Aid and an antibiotic wipe. “I’m going to clean your cut,” she explained to Adonis. “Then I’ll put a Band-Aid on it. It might hurt a little but only because I’m going to touch it, not because of the medicine. Okay?”
He nodded.
When she wiped the cut clean, Adonis’s crying intensified, and he wiggled in Stavros’s arms.
She placed the Band-Aid and declared. “All done.” Rose leaned in and kissed Adonis on the cheek. “You were very brave.”
Adonis peeked out at her and then nodded.
“Do you still want to see the lions?” Stavros asked. “Or would you rather get on the boat and go back to the hotel?”
“Lions,” Adonis mumbled.
“Okay.” With Adonis in Stavros’s arms, they hiked to the lions.
When they arrived, Adonis declared, “They aren’t real lions.” There was anger and disappointment in his voice. “I thought we were going to pet real lions.”
Stavros set Adonis down. “These statue lions are better for petting. They won’t bite your hand off.”
“Why don’t the lions have manes?” Nefeli approached a statue whose front paws were replaced with rebar.
“Maybe they’re all girl lions,” Rose suggested.
“Or the manes were lost over time,” Mr. P said.
Adonis cocked his head. “They look like seals.”
Rose stifled a giggle. “You’re right.”
They walked through the ruins of an amphitheater before Adonis said, “I’m hungry.”
“Me too,” Nefeli said.
“Then let’s head back to the hotel for lunch,” Mr. P said.
Rose passed packs of crackers to the children. “Have a snack until we can get there.”
They started toward the boat.
Adonis ripped open his package, and the crackers went flying. More tears.
While Mr. P and Stavros bent down to calm Adonis, Rose retrieved her pack of crackers. She opened the crackers and handed them to Adonis.
“All better?” she asked.
Adonis wiped the tears from his face. “Yes.”
“What do you say to Rose?” Stavros asked.
“Thank you,” the boy said.