Sammarino to which he returns year after year. The people there aren't Greek, they're Vlachs and have their own language and history. Tim's proud of their friendship and proud to be accepted on equal terms with the Vlachs. For the past few years Tim's spent his holiday helping out with the Autumn muster, as the Vlachs move their flocks of sheep down from the high pastures. He's a pretty good shepherd now, even guarding the flock by night, wearing the traditional, all-weather cape, thickly woven from sheep and goats' wool.
Sheep are biddable creatures on the whole.
But cattle are different, and Jorgis gave Tim more and more responsibility for rounding up cattle on the high and wild mountainous terrain. But Jorgis simply ignored Tim's plea for a break, coming along to get him out of bed at dawn if he attempted a lie-in. Jorgis - everyone in the village knows me and that I disappeared hurriedly.