Lina rubbed her forehead again. What was going on down there? Was there the equivalent of a bunch of male spirits sitting around scratching and farting as they watched the mythological version of the Super Bowl while forcing ghostly women to cook tacky, fattening foods for them?
Demeter's no-nonsense voice continued over Lina's mental turmoil.
“Think of it as a large bakery that is in disarray because its proprietress has long been absent. Use your wisdom and experience to put it to order. And know that as you do so, you are returning the favor of a goddess.”
“Demeter, the time is short. She must begin her journey,” Eirene spoke urgently.
“You are correct, as usual, my friend.” Demeter smiled at Eirene and stood, gesturing for Lina to follow her. “Come, I will take you to the entrance of the Underworld.”
“That's it?” Lina asked breathlessly. “Those are all the instructions you're going to give me?”
“Are you a child who needs to be led about by the hand?” Eirene asked sarcastically.
“You know, if you touched up some of that gray in your hair your attitude would probably get better. It always works for me,” Lina quipped.
Eirene's mouth opened and closed. Once.
Demeter covered her bark of surprised laughter with a small cough. This human woman certainly had a will of her own. She cleared her throat delicately before addressing Lina.
“I have not left you bereft of aid. I have arranged for one of the recent dead to guide you to the Palace of Hades. She will help you with the questions your inner voice does not answer.” As the goddess spoke, she was striding quickly through the grassy meadow and Lina had to scramble to keep up with her. “But you must understand that you cannot allow anyone to know that you are not truly Persephone.”
“What! But how will Iâ” Lina gasped.
“It would be an insult,” Demeter interrupted her. “The dead deserve more respect than to believe that they cannot be afforded the touch of a true goddess.”
“But I'm
not
a true Goddess!”
“You are!” Demeter's intense gaze captured Lina. “I have granted you my daughter's powers. Believe you are a goddess and behave accordingly. And remember, in your world Persephone abides by the same rule. No one will know she is not truly Carolina Francesca Santoro. Now you must give me your word that you will not betray your true identity.”
“I promise I'll keep who I am a secret,” she agreed after only a brief hesitation. What choice did she have?
Demeter inclined her head in regal acknowledgment of Lina's oath before she continued her trek, leaving behind the grassy meadow and entering a wooded area.
Lina barely had time to wonder what it was she had somehow gotten herself into as she hurried after the goddess's departing form.
They were making their way through a grove of thick trees. The breeze was light and still touched with summer's warmth, but it caused dried leaves to rain from the sturdy branches that formed a canopy of fall colors over their heads.
“It's not spring here,” Lina said suddenly.
Demeter glanced over her shoulder at the woman who wore her daughter's body.
“No, as I already explained, time runs differently here, Carolina. Spring has departed from this world, and the resting seasons of fall and winter are upon us, which is why my daughter could visit your world where the growth of spring has just begun.”
Lina pressed her lips together. Well, didn't that just figure. It was appropriate that it was spring in the Oklahoma she'd just left, especially since Persephone had just arrived. It reminded her of an old myth. . . .
And Lina turned to stone.
Eirene stumbled and almost bumped into her from behind.
“You must hurry,” the old woman said in irritation. “We have no time toâ”
She was silenced by the expression on Lina's face. Sensing trouble, Demeter had already turned when Lina's next words sliced through the air between them.
“The Rape of Persephone.” Lina crossed her arms, hugging herself defensively. “I remember the myth now. Hades, the King of Hell, abducts the maiden goddess, Persephone. He rapes her and tricks her into staying down there with him by getting her to eat six pieces of fruit.” She searched her memory and came up with the name. “Six pieces of pomegranate. That's why for six months there's fall and winterâbecause her mother, that would be you, Demeter, went into such mourning at the loss of her daughter that she refused to let anything bloom until she returned.”
Lina gulped for air, fighting down her fear. She wasn't an innocent young virgin. She was a mature, middle-aged woman, and she would not be led docilely into a trap. “You're setting me up. You want me to take your daughter's place so that it's not actually Persephone who is raped.”
Lina could hear Eirene's shocked gasp at Lina's words, and before she could say more, Demeter covered the space that separated them so quickly that Lina's vision blurred. The goddess took Lina firmly by the shoulders and met her gaze unblinkingly. “You must not believe this lie, Lina,” Demeter said.
“I've read the story; it's how it goes.”
“Not here, Lina, not in this world.” Demeter could feel the girl's body trembling under her hands. She focused the power of her will on Lina's eyes. She had to make this mortal daughter believe she was telling her truth. “I would not allow such a thing to happen. Not to my own daughter, and not to you.”
“But I remember it. That's what happens,” she insisted stubbornly.
“The stories you know of this realm are only the shadows of truth. Think of them as tales too long repeated by too many gossips. Truth has been twisted and changed and used to explain away mysteries. Think logically, daughter of mortals. Do you honestly believe that I would allow anyone to steal my daughter from me?”
Lina met Demeter's eyes. The goddess filled her vision. Her power was a tangible thing. Suddenly Lina was reminded of her mother, and her grandmother. She recognized in Demeter the protective, earnest tone of another mother who would do anything to ensure that her daughter wasn't harmed. And Demeter had the strength of an immortal to support her maternal instincts.
“When you put it like that it doesn't seem very logical that a goddess would allow her only daughter to be abused.” Lina said slowly. “But then again, I'm not really your daughter.”
A genuine smile softened the goddess's expression so that Lina saw clearly the love Demeter had for Persephone. “You stand in my daughter's stead. You speak through her lips; you are housed in her form. I would not allow harm to come to you, child.”
“And the King of Hell doesn't want to rape meâor Persephone?”
“No, Lina. Hades is a reclusive, somber god. He does not cavort with nymphs; he has no mate, nor has he shown amorous interest in any goddess in”âDemeter scoffed, her handsome face twisted in disdainâ“longer than I can remember. His dour existence is consumed with the workings of the Underworld. He cares nothing for love or life. And always remember that you are under my protection. All of the gods and goddesses know it. No one, mortal or immortal, would dare abuse my daughter.”
Demeter's words felt logical. The goddess who stood before her exuded power and authority. It didn't seem likely that she would allow her beloved daughter to be harmed. Lina looked deeply into Demeter's clear, guileless eyes and realized with a start that she trusted the goddess.
“Does he know you're sending Persephone down there?”
“Hades will be pleased to have your assistance. Do not worry so, all will be well.” Demeter squeezed her shoulders firmly before resuming her trek through the trees. She gestured impatiently at Lina to catch up with her. “It is time for you to meet your spirit guide.”
When Lina still didn't move, Demeter turned and raised her distinctive brows questioningly.
“Saying that Hades will be pleased to have my assistance doesn't mean that you've told him I'm coming.” Lina knew business rhetoric when she heard it. She'd just fired an accountant who specialized in it. “In other words, he has no idea I'm coming and not a clue that I'm there to mess around with the management of his realm. Right?”
Demeter's expression was wry. “You are experienced enough to understand that not everything can be spoken outright. Especially when dealing with men.”
“You're right. I do understand what you're saying. So here's my request. I'd like you to send him word that your daughter is coming for a”âLina gestured vaguelyâ“a little vacation. From a purely business standpoint it's always a good idea to keep the lines of communication within management as open as possible.”
Demeter considered her request. Perhaps the mortal was correct. Hades should be told of Persephone's coming; even if the dour god didn't deign to bestir himself to welcome her. Still, it was only polite for one god to contact the other when entering another deity's realm.
The goddess raised one hand and pursed her lips, letting loose a series of melodic birdsong. Before the lovely sound had died on the wind, a flutter of wings burst overhead and an enormous raven circled Demeter once before gliding down to perch on her outstretched arm.
“Take the news of my daughter's arrival in the Underworld to Hades,” Demeter said to the bird. “Tell him that the Goddess of the Harvest appreciates his hospitality and his protection as Spring visits the Land of the Dead.” Demeter threw up her arm and the raven lifted gracefully into the wind, disappearing amidst the trees.
“Does that satisfy your sense of responsibility?” Demeter asked Lina.
“Yes, thank you,” Lina said as she hurried after the stern goddess.
Demeter came to a rise in the land that signaled the end of the tree line. There she waited for Lina and Eirene to join her, but Lina's eyes were not on the goddess. They were focused on the incredible sight before them.
“Oh!” The breath left her in such a rush she felt dizzy. “I've never seen . . . this is . . . is . . .”
“It is Lake Avernus.” For once Eirene's voice had lost its caustic edge. “Beyond it is the Bay of Naples.”
“It's so beautiful,” Lina said, at a loss for words to describe the awesome view. The lake stretched before them like a vast liquid mirror the color of sapphires. Light glittered and danced magically over its surface, breathing life to its face so that its perfect, glassy cover sparkled playfully. There were no trees near the lake's edge, but lacy ferns framed it with the soft touch of earthy green. Beyond the lake waited the ocean, its lighter shades of aqua and turquoise making it appear like it was the feminine complement to the darker, land-bound body of water.
“You have only begun to know the wonders of this world, Lina,” Demeter said.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE goddess's knowing steps found a small dirt path that appeared to circle the lake. Demeter turned to her right and followed the path around a gentle bend, which led directly to the mouth of a tunnel-like opening within a large rock formation mounded near the edge of the lake. As they approached the tunnel, Lina could see that its stone walls had been smoothed and painted with fabulous frescoes depicting gods and goddesses feasting, laughing and loving. But soon the frescoes were swallowed by the darkness within.
Lina's throat felt dry. The darkness was like a tomb.
Demeter's steps didn't falter. She marched into the tunnel. When Lina hesitated, she spoke gruffly to her.
“Well, you must come, too. How else will our way be lighted?” the goddess coaxed.
“Lighted?” Lina repeated, realizing she sounded like an idiot.
Eirene sighed. “You are the Goddess of Spring. Use your powers.”
Lina's brow knotted.
“Listen within,
Persephone,
” Demeter enunciated the name carefully. “Your body knows.”
Ignoring her mounting frustration, Lina concentrated. Light. If she could make light, how would she do it?
Think!
she told herself. A half-formed idea flitted through her mind. She lifted her right hand to the level of her eyes. It was a lovely hand. The color of new cream, it was smooth and unlinedâunlike her own, well-worn forty-something-year-old hand. If she could create light, she would do it like she had done so many other important things in her lifeâwith her hands. And suddenly she knew. She turned her hand, palm up and cast a simple thought down her arm.
I' d like light, please.
With a perky snapping sound, a little globe of brilliance popped from her palm to hover inches above her hand. Enormously pleased with herself, she smiled past the light and into Demeter's eyes.
“That's how I'd make light.”
“Well done, Persephone,” Demeter said. The goddess nodded in the direction of the seemingly bottomless tunnel.
Squaring her shoulders, Lina stepped forward, leaving the ball of light hovering in the tunnel behind them.
“You must command it to stay with you,” Demeter said.
The goddess was standing within the edge of darkness, so Lina couldn't tell for sure, but she thought Demeter might actually be laughing.
“Well, come on! Keep up with me,” Lina told the light. Immediately it burst forward, almost hitting her head. Lina jerked back, squinting at its brightness. “With me, not on me.” She whispered to the glowing ball, and it settled into a spot just above her right shoulder. “Up higher, you're blinding my eye.”
The ball rose a few inches.
“Right there. Good job.” The light seemed to wriggle in pleasure at her compliment, which made Lina grin at it. “Okay, we're ready,” she told Demeter.