The underworld saga, p.138
The Underworld Saga, page 138
“No,” Iris replied. “We’re taking you home.”
Keeping her distance so as not to make them sleepy, Jen followed the last of the kids into the rainbow, where Hera asked each child for the name of their village and their parents’ surname. Over the course of the next few hours, they delivered children to their homes, where each household received a lecture from Hera about what selling a child into slavery really meant: no education or proper meals—only abuse and often death. Most of the parents were shocked and grateful to have their children back, but some didn’t know how they would feed them. A single mother with no work begged the goddess to help her. A grandmother, whose daughter had died giving birth, was too old to keep her granddaughter. An uncle, who had survived a terrible storm that had killed his sister, barely had enough for his own children to eat, let alone the nephews the goddess had brought back to him. Jen realized that the parents and guardians had sold their children out of desperation. They had no means to take care of them.
Jen remained in the rainbow, so as not to put the mortals to sleep, but she could see and hear all that happened.
One of the villagers told Hera about a school charity that might take some of the children that no one wanted. The charity was able to take all but the youngest—a three-year-old boy. It was the same child who’d been praying to Jen.
“He’s too young for our program,” a stern-looking woman explained.
“Is there an orphanage he can go to?” Hera asked.
“Not in this region.”
Hera returned to the rainbow with the boy no one wanted.
“I’m afraid he’s your problem now,” she said to Jen. “I’ve done all I can.”
Jen took the child into her arms, and his sad, frightened eyes immediately closed as he was overcome with sleep.
“There, there,” Jen whispered. “I’ll think of something. Don’t you worry.”
But, at the moment, she had no idea what she was going to do.
Hip had never been happier to be alive. As soon as his body called to his soul, he merged with it, and the duties of Sleep instantly came upon him.
It was nice to be home! And by home, he meant, of course, in his body.
He disintegrated and flew to the Fields of Asphodel to take over the duties of Sleep from Jen. Sleeping beside her among the white, iridescent flowers was a small child with skin as dark as Tizzie’s.
At Hip’s arrival, Jen opened her eyes and smiled.
“Hi, Babe,” Hip said.
She leapt to her feet and threw herself against him.
He’d forgotten how good she felt.
She returned his eager kisses, which became evermore feverish and desperate. She took his breath away, and he found himself wanting more, never wanting to stop pressing himself against her.
A movement at his feet brought him from his reverie. He looked down at the sleeping child, who had turned onto his side, the elephant in the room—or, er, the fields.
“Who’s this?” he asked.
She sucked in her lips, as though she wasn’t going to tell him. After a beat, she said, “Now don’t get mad.”
He groaned.
Chapter Eight: The Boy No One Wanted
W
hile the boy slept in the Asphodel with Hip, Jen rode Stormy through the sky toward her home in Colorado. It felt good to be herself again, without the duties of Sleep. Why should she ever give up riding Stormy, anyway? They were a natural fit, like two peas in a pod.
This train of thought reminded her that Ares had recently left the ranch to return to Mount Olympus, his punishment served. Jen wondered how Bobby was taking it.
Her concern for Bobby didn’t thwart the sheer exuberance and pride she felt for having completed a difficult mission. With the help of Scylla, Hera, and Iris—and without the help of the Underworld gods—Jen had saved over forty children from lives of slavery, abuse, and early death. While it was true that there was still one boy who needed a home, she was working on that.
Jen had also helped Scylla become the goddess she had always wanted to be. Soon, Jen would help her face Keto.
But before she faced Scylla’s mother, Jen needed to ask a favor of her own.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, baby girl,” her mother said after Jen had made her request. “I just lost Ares, my best worker, and now you want me to take care of a three-year-old who doesn’t even speak my language?”
“If you try real hard, you can understand him.”
“Baby doll, I’ve got work to do.”
“Please? Just for a few days, while I look for another place for him to live.”
“Can’t you ask Therese or Carol? They’ve already got little ones at home. What’s one more?”
Jen didn’t feel close enough to Carol and Richard to ask them. Besides, they had no clue about the gods and goddesses, and coming up with a logical explanation for the boy’s presence wouldn’t be easy.
And she couldn’t ask Therese. Jen didn’t feel right asking such a huge favor of the friend who gave up her immortality. What was Jen gonna say? Excuse me, Therese. I know you’re not a goddess anymore. And, even though I’m able to do all the things you wish you could do, I need you to do something for me. Can you babysit this African child who speaks a different dialect of English while I fly across the world on Stormy’s back?
Yeah. Right.
Jen couldn’t do it.
The thing was, she knew Therese would say yes. But Jen didn’t feel right asking.
Ariadne had offered to keep the boy until Jen could find a home, but Jen was afraid the Minotaur would frighten him or that he’d get lost in the labyrinth.
Before leaving her mother’s house, Jen went looking for Bobby. She found him grooming Ace in the barn. Mr. Stern—John—was there, too, brushing Sassy. After some small talk, John left to get something from the house, leaving Jen alone with Bobby.
Mr. Stern sure was perceptive, Jen thought. He knew she wanted some time alone with her brother.
“How’s Hip?” Bobby asked, since he was aware of what had happened with the Maenads.
“Good as new,” she said. “How are you doing?”
“Me?” He gave her a surprised look. “Fine. Why would you ask?”
She took up a brush and began stroking Sassy. “Well, Sugar’s gone, and now Ares.”
“Jen, I’m a grown man now. You do realize that?”
She looked at him. He was taller than she was, and even though his boyish face and blond, bowl-cut hair was the same, his body was wider and more muscular. In fact, he reminded her of Pete. They could be twins.
“I’m just sorry I took Sugar into danger,” Jen said.
“You didn’t know that would happen,” he said. “Besides, if it hadn’t been Sugar, it might have been Therese or Than. Sugar was a hero.”
Jen gave him a somber smile. “Yes, she was.”
“And I liked Ares,” Bobby said, “but he sure liked to talk a lot. Wore me out sometimes.”
“Really? What about?”
“Mostly himself.”
Jen busted out laughing.
“It was interesting, usually,” Bobby continued. “All the battles he ever fought in, all the brave deeds he ever did. It made me think maybe I should go off on an adventure.”
“College would be an adventure,” Jen said.
“Nah. Mom and John need me here.”
“They could get on without you. Hire someone.”
“You didn’t go. Why should I?”
“I never wanted to,” she said. “But you’re not me.”
Bobby didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. Jen knew what he was thinking. He wanted to go to college and become a veterinarian. It had been his life-long dream.
“You can always come back here when you’re done,” Jen added.
“I’ll think about it,” he finally said, though it felt to Jen like he just wanted to get her off his back.
She brushed Sassy a while longer as feelings of nostalgia washed over her. Tears welled in her eyes, and when she sniffed, she said something about her allergies.
“Gods have allergies?” Bobby teased.
Darn. He’d called her bluff.
“So what brought you home?” he asked. “Did you come all this way just to check up on me?”
“No, as a matter of fact, I did not.” She told him about her mission and the little boy no one wanted.
“Why don’t you keep him yourself?” Bobby said.
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious. Why not?”
Jen looked over the horse at Bobby’s face for signs of sarcasm and found none. “Well, even if I could—and I can’t, because Zeus won’t allow it—I’d make a terrible mom.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Jen raised her brows. “Seriously?”
When he didn’t reply, she asked, “You really think I’d make a good mother?”
“The best,” he said. “I mean, I know we fought a lot—that’s what brothers and sisters do—but you also looked out for me, just like you’re doing today.”
Jen couldn’t believe her ears. This was probably the first time in her life her brother ever paid her a genuine compliment. “Wow. Thanks, Bobby.”
“What’s his name?” he asked.
“Poor little guy doesn’t know. His brother called him Muggie. That means tiny bug.”
“Where’s his brother?”
“Dead. He was told to jump in the lake to untangle a fishing net, and he never came back up.”
“Man. That’s rough.”
“Yeah. Tell me about it.”
They were quiet for a minute. Jen wondered if Bobby was thinking of Pete.
Then Jen added, “Muggie is such a cute, sweet boy. Such a gentle little guy. Kind of reminds me of you when you were little.”
Bobby stepped away from Ace to start working on Hershey, a brown gelding the color of chocolate. “You’re not that much older than me.”
“Still. I remember.”
Bobby blushed and gave her a smile. “How long you stayin’?”
“I gotta go. But I’ll be back soon.”
Jen said goodbye to Bobby and to the horses and then went inside once more to say goodbye to her mom and to John. Then she hopped onto Stormy, and away they flew.
As much as Hip felt sorry for the little African boy Jen had rescued, he hadn’t expected to have to babysit the moment he was free from Tartarus. He gazed down at the sleeping form curled beside him in the Asphodel and wondered what nightmares must be plaguing the boy no one wanted. Out of both pity and curiosity, Hip decided to find out.
He wasn’t surprised to discover the setting of the dream to be Lake Volta, but he was surprised to see the boy flying above the water, holding Iris’s hands, the two of them twirling in the air in a dance with an enormous rainbow arched across the bright sky. Iris’s golden wings fluttered at her back. The boy smiled from ear to ear. Bluebirds twittered around them, singing a lively tune.
Iris looked so much like her natural self that at first Hip wondered how Hera’s messenger goddess had entered his realm without him knowing. But when both Jen and Hera appeared on the scene and joined hands with the boy and Iris, Hip realized what was happening.
The boy was a lucid dreamer, and he was commanding the figments.
Curious to see what the boy would do next, Hip watched on from afar. He chuckled when sausages and loaves of bread descended from the clouds and found their way into the boy’s eager hands. The gods fell away, and now the boy sat at a golden table with another boy, maybe three years older, whom he called Bru, which meant Brother.
The two boys ate the bread and sausages and then bowls and bowls of sponge pudding, until their stomachs were bulging, and they could eat no more. Then Bru picked up a ball, and the table fell away as they tossed the ball back and forth to one another in the grass, laughing as they each tried to throw faster and harder than the other.
Wanting to test the skills of the boy, Hip summoned a figment in the form of a viper and commanded it to attack the image of Bru, but before the viper struck, Muggie, as his brother called him, transformed into a gigantic hawk and plucked the viper from the grass, tossing him into the lake.
Further testing the boy, Hip turned the viper into a boar that barreled toward the hawk from the lake. The hawk became a panther and pierced the pig flesh with sharp teeth. Hip made the boar into a bear, and, to Hip’s astonishment, the boy who was a panther became a man with a rifle. He shot the bear.
Then, on his own, the boy transformed the bear into his slave master, dead from the gunshot wound at his chest, where a gaping, bloody hole was still visible. The boy carried his slave master to a wooden crate and gingerly laid him to rest. Then the boy told the dead man to go to hell.
Hip turned the slave master into the dead body of Muggie’s brother, to see what the boy would do.
Tears sprang to the boy’s eyes, and he cried out, “Jislaaik!”
Hip recognized the expression of bewilderment and confusion.
Then drying his eyes, Muggie resurrected his brother, and the two began throwing the ball once more in the grass.
Hip observed the boy with awe. There was only one mortal whom Hip had ever seen with such amazing powers in the Dreamworld, and she was now married to his brother.
Chapter Nine: Play Time
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hen Jen returned to the Fields of Asphodel, she was moved with tenderness by the sight of Muggie curled up next to Hip. The thought of having a child didn’t seem so awful at the moment; it might even be nice.
Hip opened his eyes and smiled up at her. “Hey, pretty lady.”
“Hey, handsome.”
“As much as I want to hold you for a very long time, this little munchkin needs food and drink,” Hip said. “I think he’s in danger of dehydration.”
Jen frowned. “Oh, gosh. What should I do?”
“Your mom won’t take him?”
“She’s got too much work to do.”
“What about Therese?”
Jen sighed. “I can’t ask her to look after him, but maybe she’ll help me feed him.”
Hip looked at her puzzled, praying, Why can’t she look after him for a few days?
She’s already done so much for me, and at a great cost.
Not just for you. For herself and Than. For the twins.
But she’s given up so much. I can tell she’s depressed about it.
Jen took the little boy in her arms and said, “I’ll go for a visit and get him fed. I’ll see you later, okay?”
Before she left, Hip stroked the sleeping boy’s cheek. “He’s a lucid dreamer. Even stronger than Therese. I’ll definitely be visiting this little guy again. He’s pretty entertaining. Like a little chameleon.”
Jen kissed Muggie’s cheek and frowned. “What if I don’t find him a home?”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it, Babe, Okay?” He stroked her cheek in the same way he had just stroked the boy’s.
“Okay.”
Therese was shocked when Jen appeared to her for the third time in a single week. “Wow!” she said. “It almost feels like you never moved!” Then she noticed the child in Jen’s arms. “Who’s this?”
“Can we come in?” Jen asked at the front door.
“Of course!”
Therese opened the door and watched with astonishment as her best friend stepped over the Legos and building blocks scattered on the living room floor and went directly to the kitchen, where Jen helped the boy to a glass of water. The boy drank greedily as water dripped down his chin and onto his bare chest.
“He’s starving and thirsty,” Jen explained. “Do you have any food we can feed him?”
It was mid-morning. “Breakfast or lunch?”
“Anything you have a lot of.”
“Is mac and cheese okay?” Therese asked, still a bit puzzled by Jen’s arrival with the little boy on her hip.
“That would be perfect,” Jen said before turning to the boy and saying something in a language Therese could barely understand.
Therese opened the fridge and retrieved yesterday’s leftover mac and cheese. After warming it up, she put it on a plate with a fork and then joined Jen and the boy at the kitchen table. The plate was clean in no time.
“He really was starving,” Therese said.
The boy smiled at her. “Lekker, tannie. Thanks.” He took another long drink of water from his cup.
“He says it’s delicious and thank you,” Jen explained to Therese.
Therese nodded and then asked the boy, “Would you like more?”
“Ja?” the boy’s eyes widened with disbelief. “Ag, am I dreaming? Dis is to die for!”
Therese got up and put the remaining mac in cheese, along with a couple of wieners, into the microwave.
While they warmed, Jen asked, “Where are the twins?”
“Taking a morning nap. They’ll be up soon.”
“Could Muggie and I stay and visit awhile?”
Therese threw her arms in the air, a rush of happiness overcoming her. “Do you have to ask?” The only people who ever visited her anymore were her aunt and uncle. Todd and Ray, two of her very best friends, had gone out of town for college. Hermes had come by a few times, as had Persephone, but they had mainly come to see Than.
Jen grinned at Therese and then took a napkin to Muggie’s chin, which made the boy smile gleefully. He seemed to enjoy being cared for.
As Therese took the second helping of food from the microwave and returned to the table, she asked, “So tell me what’s going on.”
“We’ll talk later, while the kids play.”
Therese understood, giving Jen a reassuring nod.
Jen picked up one of the hotdogs and said, “Muggie, take a hap of this.”
The boy leaned over and took a bite. His face lit up as he chewed and swallowed. “Mmm. Blimmin lekker, tannie!”
Jen laughed. “He likes it.”
“I can tell.”
