Therese stood in front of her log cabin in the dark of night wearing the pale blue gown and silver sandals from Aphrodite. She walked up the drive to the house wondering how long she’d been gone and what kind of trouble she would be in and what she would say about the way she was dressed.
When she opened the front door, she found Carol and Richard curled up on the sofa watching television. They both gave her a look of surprise, and their mouths dropped open.
Oh, boy. I must have been gone a week. Here it comes.
“Wow, you look great,” Carol said. “This makeover is a major improvement over the one Jen gave you yesterday. Don’t you think, Rich?”
“No contest. That black wig was a little weird. No offense, Therese.”
Okay, what were they talking about? “Um, thanks.”
“Did you have a good time?” Carol asked. “Jen told us you might sleep over again tonight. I’m so excited you’ve been having such a good time together, especially with school getting ready to start up again. Sleepovers during the week will have to stop then, you know. So, did you have fun?”
She thought over what she had been doing however many days it had been. “Um, yeah. Great time. I’m going upstairs to call Jen. I stupidly forgot my overnight bag at her house. I’ll be back down in a little bit.”
Clifford pranced down the stairs and nearly knocked her over. “Clifford!” She squatted down and hugged his neck. Tears flooded her eyes. “Hey, boy! I’m glad to see you, too!”
“You act like you haven’t seen him all day!” Carol laughed.
Therese climbed the stairs to her room wondering what in the world had been happening here and how long she’d been gone. She noticed Jewel’s lamp was on, so she flipped it off. Fresh lettuce and tomatoes and water had been given to her by someone. Puffy also had a full dispenser of water and fresh food. What had been going on?
She went to the phone to call Jen.
“You’re back!” Jen said. “Oh my God, I was wondering when you’d come home. I was so worried. What happened? Are you and Than together now?”
“Sort of. I don’t know. He had to, um, he had to go back down…south.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I guess you’re pretty bummed out.”
“Yeah. Thanks for covering for me, though. How did you do it?”
“I used the crown to sneak around your place to take care of your pets the first day after our sleepover. The second day I dressed up in a wig and a big gaudy dress and told them I was you and that I had given you a makeover. I whipped through the house fast before they noticed anything funny about you. Then today, I used the crown again to feed your pets, and I called them from here to say you might be staying over again.”
“So I was only gone for two nights?”
“And three days. Wait, you don’t know how long you were gone? Did you guys get drunk or something?”
“Or something.” Therese sat on the edge of her bed. Clifford leapt up beside her, and she stroked his fur.
“So give me the details.” Then Jen added, “unless you’re too bummed.”
“I am pretty bummed, and I’m really tired, but maybe we could get together tomorrow. I could come by just before the trail rides, see the horses, and we could visit then.”
“That would be great! Plan to have lunch here.”
“Sounds good.” Then Therese asked, “Did your dad move home?”
“Yeah.”
“Everything going okay?”
“I don’t know. It’s better with the crown. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Good. See you tomorrow.” Then she asked, “Oh, wait. Think we could invite Vicki?”
“That’s actually a great idea. I’ve wanted to call her. This gives me a good excuse. I’ll call her now. See you tomorrow.”
Therese hung up the phone and looked at herself in her dresser mirror. So she had been gone three days and two nights. Jen had taken care of her pets using the crown. She had also made an appearance yesterday pretending to be Therese. Carol and Richard had no clue she’d been fighting for her life before the gods of Olympus, that she could have won had she not taken pity on the man who had her parents killed, and that she could be a goddess right now with the love of her life for all eternity.
She called Vicki and made arrangements to meet at Jen’s tomorrow morning. Then she changed from the gown and hung it up in her closet wondering if she would ever have an occasion to wear it again. Maybe prom. She smiled at the thought of wearing Aphrodite’s gown to prom. She put on her nightshirt and lay down on her bed. It wasn’t quite as wonderful as Poseidon’s, but it sure felt good to be home. Clifford curled against her, and she stroked his fur and kissed the top of his head. At least one of them was immortal.
Although she was tired, she went downstairs to spend some time with Carol and Richard. She curled up with a blanket in her favorite chair near the fireplace, and Clifford joined her on her lap. She stroked his fur as she asked Carol and Richard what they’d been up to.
Carol said, “First of all, I’ve been waiting to tell you that the lieutenant called. They found the body of the man they believe was responsible for your parents’ death. His name was Steven McAdams. Apparently, he was distributing counterfeit drugs all over the world and this had something to do with your mother’s work at the college. They also have two men from Pakistan in custody. The men confessed to helping McAdams. They turned themselves in, can you believe it? The lieutenant said something must have scared them into confessing. Anyway, he’s closed the case and assures us that we’re safe.”
Therese smiled. “That’s great.” She wondered if details about the anthrax antidote were omitted by the lieutenant wanting to spare her aunt, or by her aunt wanting to spare Therese.
Carol looked at Richard, and he gave her a nod.
“Actually,” Carol said, “we’ve wanted to talk to you about something, else, too.”
Oh yeah, Therese thought. She remembered now that they had wanted to tell her something important that would affect them all, but right now she didn’t think she had the strength to hear it.
Richard piped up, “We really think this would be good for all three of us. We hope you think so, too.”
Therese filled with dread.
“Richard and I are getting married,” Carol said.
Therese looked at Carol and then at Richard and back at Carol. This was the news? “That’s awesome.” Is that why Carol might need to leave her?
“You think so?” Carol asked.
Therese nodded and gave her a forced smile.
“And, well,” Carol started again, “we were kind of hoping that you would let us adopt you, so that both of us could be your official guardians.”
“You don’t have to answer right away,” Richard said. “You can take some time to think about it. But, as another guardian, I could help your aunt. I could give consent if you needed medical attention and Carol was out of town, or if you needed something simpler, like a permission slip signed. It’s okay, though, if you don’t like the idea. And we thought we’d all three live here in this house together.”
She was so filled with relief to learn that they wanted her—that they both wanted her—that her eyes flooded with tears, and the tears spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t know what to say,” she said softly. “This is, like, the best news you could give me. The past few days have been so hard. I mean, I had fun with Jen, but I also had to say goodbye to Than. He and his sisters went back…south. And,” the tears were turning into sobs, “and, I don’t know if you noticed, but we gave Mom and Dad’s things away, and, um, and I’m just so relieved that you want me. I was scared that you would leave me, too.”
Both Carol and Richard got up from the couch and kneeled on the floor beside her chair. They took her hands in theirs and kissed them. Carol stroked her hair. “Oh, sweetheart,” Carol said. “I would never leave you. I’m so sorry you ever even had that thought. I will always be here for you.” She kissed her cheek again.
“And I know we’re not that close yet,” Richard said. “But I will be here for you, too. Did you notice I chopped off that dying branch of the elm outside?”
“You did?” Therese’s face lit up. She ran to the window above the kitchen sink to take a look. It was dark outside, but the dim light of the moon showed the elm’s new profile. She turned and beamed at Richard across the room.
“And I treated the roots of both elms. I think they’re going to make it.”
Therese skipped around the kitchen bar and threw her arms around Richard. Then she threw her arms around her aunt. Then she put one around each of them and said, “Thank you. Both of you. Thank you so much.”
Clifford lifted his face to hers and licked her tears, making the three humans break their embrace and fall back laughing.
After staying up with Carol and Richard a little while longer, sleep began to take possession of every limb and every muscle on Therese’s body. She said goodnight, gave them each one more hug, and dragged herself up the stairs to her bed with Clifford following behind. She crawled beneath her covers, allowing Clifford there, too, and he nestled against her. He knew, unlike the humans downstairs, that she hadn’t been home for three days, and now he wanted nothing more than to stay glued to Therese for as long as she would allow.
She turned off her bedside lamp and lay back on her pillow. It wasn’t Artemis’s goose feathered pillow, but it would do. Her sheets weren’t quite as soft or clean as Athena’s had been, but they felt just right. She had no eye mask or silken gown, but she had her dog and her other pets, and she was happy.
And although she couldn’t have Than, he said he would come back for her. She had to believe that. She had to have hope. One day he would find a way to make her his queen.
And although it wasn’t now, she still had her prayer. She would talk to him, and she knew he would hear. And he would be glad to hear her voice over so many others begging him to stay off his visit or to take them swiftly without pain and suffering. Her prayers would be like a breath of fresh air, as he had once told her himself.
“Oh, Than, I miss you already. I wish I could feel you next to me, holding me, kissing me. But I won’t make you sad tonight. I want you to know that I’m happy. My aunt and uncle are getting married, and they’re going to adopt me. We’re all three going to live here in this house together. Can you believe it?” She continued to tell her stories—of what Jen had done in her absence, including the bit about the black wig, how Clifford was stuck to her like glue, how her uncle-to-be had saved the elm trees in the back of her house. She told him what Jewels and Puffy were doing, how she would be having lunch with Jen and Vicky tomorrow, how she couldn’t wait to go for a ride with Todd and Ray in Todd’s truck again. Band camp would be starting next week. She really needed to start practicing on her flute. Maybe she and her friends would get together this weekend and play their instruments together. And on and on she went, talking to Death about the life she loved and treasured.
And before she knew it, Therese was standing on a muddy bank. Fog curled around her, so she couldn’t see far, but she could tell that the water was flowing in a narrow gorge between two enormous granite mountains. “Mom! Dad!” Her shouts were stifled by the thick fog. She couldn’t open her mouth and yell as loudly as she wanted. “Mom! Dad!” She looked around the empty bank. Her bare feet sunk into the mud. Tall blades of grass as high as her knees grew in tufts along the shore. Mosquitoes swarmed over one area of the water. Three large boulders leaned in a cluster on the left side of the shore against the base of steep, massive wall of rock.
She recognized this place.
She leapt into the air and flew her breaststroke above the river. She told the fog to disappear. Down below, she willed Charon to look up at her from his ferry. He was alone rowing toward the bank, perhaps coming for some poor soul.
“Tell my parents I said goodbye, will you?” she cried out to Charon. “Tell them I love them and will miss them and will one day be with them again!”
The old man looked at her and waved.
She took that as a yes. Maybe they wouldn’t remember her. But maybe they would.
She turned a few somersaults in the air and then headed back toward the bank. Below she saw two figures, and one of them she could tell, even from this height, was Than. She charged down toward him.
“Hello, my love!” she cried, hovering just in front of him, but without touching the icy water near her feet. Already she could feel herself growing weaker, and she found it more difficult to breathe.
Charon paddled his long stick through the water toward the bank.
“Therese!” Than said beaming. He started to reach out to her, but then thought better of it, and took several steps back. “I love your prayers. Please keep talking to me! But don’t linger here another minute, and try to avoid this place. We can’t have you die before I figure out how to make you a god! Go! But keep talking to me! I’ll come back one day!”
Therese blew him her kiss and, reluctantly, flew away before she felt any weaker.
For all she really knew, he could have been a figment. She might have invented the whole scene. But it didn’t matter. She wanted to believe in it, and that was enough for now.
She found herself flying over the San Juan Mountains when Hip came up from behind.
“It’s good to be back,” he said, flying beside her.
Yes, she thought without speaking. It wasn’t bad.
********THE END********
Please enjoy this first chapter of the second book in the Gatekeeper’s Saga: