Chapter 18
Friday
The door in the hallway of Grakh and Amma’s house slammed, and the voice of their middle daughter Quarta sounded.
“Pa! Ma! News from Octavian!” the girl stepped aside, letting in a tall, slender young man. “This is Friday from the Captain Cook cruiser. He has just arrived from Europe.”
“Has steamed in from Europe,” the sailor corrected her, shaking hands with Grakh. “Nice to meet Octavian’s father!”
“And which one is nicer to meet: Octavian’s or Quarta's father?” the old man quipped as usual.
“Depends on which one is kinder,” the guest took off his sailor’s cap.
“Your parents had enjoyed ’Robinson Crusoe’?” Amma peered into his weather-beaten face.
“Don’t worry,” Friday smiled. “I’m not a savage.”
“We've been very worried about our son,” said Grakh. “The newspape
