The Gatekeeper's Daughter (19 page)

“You are my mother-in-law, after all,” the god of the forge replied. “I’ve loved you more than I do my own mother.”

Dione smiled. “Then you understand why I’ve hidden Ares’s monstrous contraption?”

So she admitted it,
Than thought.

“I still recall the day you asked me to make its opposite for your daughter.”

“You’re a good god, Hephaestus. A good husband to have done so, even at the cost of your own happiness. Passions of the heart are meant to be fed, not stifled.”

“Passions are best subdued.” Athena widened her stance and lifted her chin defiantly. “I’m afraid we have different philosophies, Dione.”

Than was about to move the focus back to saving Therese, when Dione replied, “Indeed, virgin goddess. You, Hestia, and Artemis see the purpose of existence quite differently than I.”

“Don’t put me in the same category as Artemis. Her passions are tempered only by the absence of her heart’s true love.”

“Who’s that?” Than asked, wondering if the answer might be related to Therese’s quest.

“Callisto, of course,” Athena replied.
“Big Bear.”

Than absorbed and processed Athena’s words.
What quest could have anything to do with Callisto?

“But you remain chaste by your own free choice,” Dione objected. “Hippolyta’s golden girdle offers no freedom. Once it’s fitted, a woman is held prisoner by it. No woman should give up the rights to her own body.”

“Agreed.” Than stepped closer to Dione and gazed down at her. “But the girdle can be fitted temporarily, can it not? Hippolyta had the power to remove it and give it to Hercules.”

“Yes,” Dione agreed. “But if you expect Ares to leave Therese alone, he will want to fit it to her himself. Then only he can remove it.”

Than looked up at Athena and Hephaestus, but they made no comment. “Until Therese and I can find a better way to protect ourselves from Ares, the golden girdle is our best solution.”

“A temporary solution, Mother,” Hephaestus echoed.

Dione scoffed. “What makes you so certain Ares will ever agree to remove it once he’s fitted it to her?”

“Everyone wants something,” Than replied. “I just need to find out what Ares wants, more than our chastity.”

“And you can’t keep her in the Underworld under your father’s protection?”

“That would be another kind of prison,” Than replied.
“She needs to be able to visit her family.” He didn’t want her to be trapped in the Underworld. He wanted her to be free. “Plus, she’s the goddess of animal companions and wouldn’t be able to serve from the Underworld. Her transformation wouldn’t hold in that case.”

“If I hand over Hippolyta’s girdle, what shall I get in return? One of you will owe me. And the girdle must be returned to me the moment Therese no longer requires it.”

The other two gods on the bank stared at Than, waiting for his reply.

Chapter Thirty: Out in the Open Sea

Therese crouched on the bank of the stream with the old bear’s head in her hands. If
Than came to collect the bear’s soul, neither he nor Therese could do anything to prevent the bear from dying. Her powers as goddess of animal companions did not extend to healing. If they did, she would have been able to heal Pete once he transformed into a golden retriever.

She wondered if she could ask
Than to hold off taking the bear’s soul, to give Therese time, but then she would have to betray her promise to Artemis.

As goddess of wild animals and as one of the Olympians, Artemis did have the power to save the old bear’s life, but Therese worried Artemis might take the bear and complete the quest on her own, keep the apple, and leave Therese with no leverage to seek Hera’s aid in saving Lynn.

Therese had to do this on her own if she had any hope of saving Lynn and Pete, though she still had no idea how she would save both. Her face flushed as she realized she was putting her own needs ahead of those of the old bear.

I’m exactly like the other gods.

Not wanting to waste another moment, Therese grabbed the bear’s front legs, and hefted the furry beast onto her back, careful to shift the quiver of arrows to one side. The bear moaned in protest.

“I’m going to help you,” Therese assured her. “Just hold on a while longer.” She hesitated, wondering if she should let the old bear die and find a younger, stronger bear for her journey, like the younger bear downstream, but the younger bear had her whole life ahead of her, and flinging her into the sky for all eternity might seem more a punishment to
her. This bear would die otherwise; plus, Therese didn’t want to waste any more time.

Without god travel or a chariot, she had no choice but to traverse land and water in what her senses told her was a bee-line to the Aegean Sea, where Artemis said Big Bear’s feet touched the horizon at night. She was tempted to take her chances and god travel, but if Ares caught her again, she’d never save Lynn and Pete. So, with the helm of invisibility on her head, her quiver and bow over her left shoulder, and the old bear slumped across her back, its back paws almost grazing the ground, Therese clung to the bear’s forelegs at her neck and ran down the mountainside as fast as she could manage. She ran through the San Juan Mountains and National Forest past the Great Sand Dunes, and over the last of the Rocky Mountains, moving southeast across grassland into Kansas. It took an hour to reach the river, where she laid the bear down to rest, giving her water and consoling her as best she could. Above her, in the late afternoon sky, buzzards swirled over them, sensing the old bear’s demise, so she put her hands on the bear again to extend the helm’s powers to her, and the vultures eventually flew away.

Then she followed the Cimarron National Grasslands northeast into Missouri, avoiding heavily populated cities as much as possible—not because she or the bear could be seen, since everything she touched was also protected by the helm, but because the city landscape slowed her down. In some areas, she risked being sensed by Zeus and took flight, but only when it was unavoidable. At one point, when she was flying into the Ozarks over Branson, a flock of geese followed her, and it felt more than coincidental. Therese worried they were working for Zeus. When she veered to her left, so did they. When she veered to the right, they followed. Trying not to panic, she landed near a lake in the Ozarks and decided to stick to the ground from then on.

She found her way through the Ozarks, stopping briefly in the Bald Knob Wilderness of southern Illinois to catch her breath and give water to the bear. She used a clam shell to scoop water from the river and drizzle it into the panting bear’s mouth. In another hour, dusk would come, but the bear would not survive if Therese didn’t give her opportunities to rest. She dipped the clam into the river, when suddenly a water moccasin sunk its fangs into the top of her hand. Painful poison surged through her veins. She pulled her hand away and dragged the bear from the bank, sure Poseidon or another sea deity must recognize her presence. She decided she would continue to follow the river but would be more careful about touching it for the rest of her journey.

Without stopping, she trailed the Ohio River along the Indiana and Ohio borders, and then crossed through the Glades of West Virginia to the Virginia coast.

She was a god and was strong, but not invincible. Her hand and arms still burned from the snake’s venom, and her feet, knees, and back ached, but she trod on. The old bear looked as though she might expire at any moment. Night was falling, and because she was moving east, she was losing time. To make matter worse, she had to find a way across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean to the Aegean Sea without losing the bear and without being discovered by Poseidon. If a deity had sensed her near the river in a small patch of land in Illinois, it would have a field day with her swimming, without an escape route, in the middle of the wide open sea.

“No more,” the bear moaned as Therese looked out across the Atlantic, deciding on her next move. “I can’t take anymore.”

“Hold on,” Therese urged. “Wouldn’t you like to live forever in the sky?”

“And never die?”

“That’s right.”

“You can…really make that…happen?”

“If you want me to.”

The bear panted a barely audible, “Yes,” before passing out and losing consciousness.

“No!”

Therese pressed her hand against the old bear’s chest and felt a fragile heartbeat and wondered if Lynn’s heartbeat was also weak. What if Therese was too late? She bit her lip, wiped her eyes, heaved the beast onto her back, and dove into the sea.

She was able to help the bear to breathe and remain somewhat warm underwater. Because she had to use her hands to hold the bear’s forelegs around her neck, Therese had no choice but to rely on her legs, and this slowed her down. She alternated between using the dolphin kick, breast kick, and flutter until she found the dolphin kick was the most efficient. She thought, mockingly,
Mental note: if you ever have to swim across the ocean with a bear on your back, the dolphin kick is best.

She hadn’t been in the water long when a school of sharks surrounded her. There were six of them circling her not ten feet away, baring their teeth. One by one, she shot them with her arrows, and as soon as they were pierced, they sidled up to her and nuzzled her hand. She asked them if they would escort her through the sea. The biggest and strongest offered her his back, but as she climbed on, holding the bear with one hand, a golden net fell over her, cinched her and the bear into a heap, and dragged them down, down, to the darkest depths of the sea.

Therese wrapped her arms around the bear, trying with all her might to keep the beast as comfortable as possible as they were mercilessly dragged through all manner of sea life and over rocky landforms, bouncing around as if they were tied to a trailer hitch and were being dragged through the Rocky Mountains by an SUV with four-wheel drive. Therese used her own body to shelter the blows to the bear, encasing the bear like the yolk of an egg. Her skin stung where coral, rock, and shell dug into her as she passed. Both fear and relief came over her when the brightly lit palace that belonged to Poseidon came into view.

The net stopped in the middle of a courtyard just outside of the palace walls. Poseidon swam toward them with his trident, and in a booming voice that blasted her eardrums like an IPod turned up to full volume, Poseidon demanded, “You thought you could sneak around my domain unnoticed? Exactly what is the meaning of this? Show yourself, Hades!”

Therese removed the helm to expose both herself and the bear, still in the net, floating but tethered.

“Therese?” Poseidon asked, sounding genuinely surprised. “It’s you.”

“I’m sorry I tried to be sneaky,” Therese said. “I’m on a secret quest for Artemis.”

“Why must you travel through my domain for Artemis?”

“It has nothing to do with your domain. I promise. I’m just passing through.”

“It’s hard to trust an oath breaker.”

“Please let me pass. I’ll do anything you ask.”

The golden net disappeared and a group of merfolk swam to the aid of both Therese and the bear, keeping them from floating away while guiding them toward Poseidon. The bear was still unconscious, its tongue hanging from its mouth, its eyes closed, and its heart barely beating. The school of sharks remained faithfully behind, wagging their tales like dogs.

“I’m running out of time, Poseidon. If I don’t finish my quest before this bear dies, I won’t be able to save my baby sister or my friend.”

“I can’t afford to have Ares against me,” Poseidon said. “You must understand how complicated the relationships between the gods can be.”

“I’m getting the idea.”

Poseidon placed his trident on the bear’s back, and a bright light emanated from its prongs and over the bear and throughout the water in rings that lit the sea for miles. “I just bought you some time. Now come inside and tell me why I should let you cross.”

Therese was pleased to see the bear open her eyes. But once the old animal saw she was underwater among gods and merfolk, she flailed her legs in a panic and fainted with confusion. The fact that her heart beat strong and steadily was reassuring to Therese, but this feeling did not last, for when she entered the palace doors, the god of war was there to greet her.

Chapter Thirty
-One: Hippolyta’s Golden Girdle

The golden girdle had not been in Than’s possession long when Hermes arrived at his chambers in the Underworld to summon him to Poseidon’s palace.