The Gatekeeper's House (11 page)

“
What would you have me do?”
Hip asked.

“
You and Hecate search for
the Malevolent,” Hades replied. “She can be anywhere.”

***

Jen opened her eyes and saw she was in
the middle of a big bed in a bright cave surrounded by two dogs and
a weasel. She smiled when Clifford licked her arm, but as the
memory of what had transpired moments before came flooding back,
she frowned.

“
Clifford, where am I?” Jen
asked, not expecting an answer.

He barked—so far so good. But then the
Doberman pinscher said, “You’re in the Underworld.”

Jen froze. She could not move, could
not breathe, for several long seconds. The animals stared at her,
and she stared at them. She didn’t know what to think. She couldn’t
think. Her mind reeled.

Finally, she asked, “Am I
dreaming?”

The animals looked at one
another.

Then the weasel said, “Not at the
moment.”

Jen flinched and pushed her body
further away from the animals. A talking Doberman was one thing,
but the weasel talked, too?

“
Don’t be afraid,” the
Doberman said. “Hip and the others will come back for you
soon.”

“
Therese?” she
asked.

“
Yes, Therese, too,” the
weasel said.

Jen looked at Clifford, and he
barked.

“
Are we, are we dead?” Jen
asked. “Is this hell? Please don’t tell me I’ve died and gone to
hell.” She glanced at the flames lighting up the room.

“
You’re not dead yet,” said
the weasel. “So relax. Your friends will be back soon.”

Jen’s eyes widened. Not dead yet? What
was that supposed to mean? She bit down on her lip and clasped her
hands together, trying to keep them still.

Suddenly the wooden door burst open and
a strange looking woman who was half white and half black stormed
into the room.

Chapter Nine: Cyclopes
Island

As Therese flew across the
predawn sky with Than and the Furies, she wondered how they were
supposed to
borrow
the only eye of a Cyclops. Than had once told her the Cyclopes
were cruel cannibals who’d been allowed to live because they forged
Zeus’s thunderbolts. She also knew that Odysseus and his men had
once stabbed Polyphemus in the eye and blinded him, but of course,
being immortal the eye of Polyphemus had regenerated. Why
was
his
eye
necessary to freeing the goddesses who’d been turned to stone by
Medusa?

They flew west of Greece to a group of
islands supposedly invisible to mortal eyes. Therese didn’t know
enough about world geography to know if she’d ever heard of the
islands in her pre-god life. Who knew world geography would be one
of her most important classes?

Her thoughts were interrupted by
messages coming telepathically from Than and his
sisters.

Polyphemus is
dangerous
, Than said.

Therese thought, “How stupid does he
think I am?”

He lives in a cave with his
flock of sheep
, Than continued.
And every morning before he takes the sheep into
the hills, he goes to the sea to wash his eye.

He won’t give us the eye
willingly
, Meg said.
We’ll have to ambush him.

We’ll wait in the sea until
he submerges the eye
, Alecto
offered.

Not the
sea
, Tizzie said.
Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon. Too risky.

Well, we can’t hide in the
clouds
, Than said.
The Cyclopes work for Zeus, and Zeus may sense us
there.

Wouldn’t Zeus want to save
the goddesses?
Therese asked.

There’s a reason my father
brought them from Mount Olympus
, Than
replied.
I don’t know what it is, but I
don’t think we can trust anyone right now. Not even
Zeus.

What a frightening existence being a
god proved to be when you couldn’t even trust your king.

A bolt of lightning shot through the
sky and cut through a cloud in the center of the group. The gods
scattered and plunged into the sea.

Therese held her breath,
unused to underwater breathing. A school of fish darted away from
her. She looked down and saw the ocean floor was hundreds of feet
below her.
Talk about deep.

Follow me
, Thanatos said.

Even if Than hadn’t been glowing like a
beacon—all of them were—Therese could see clearly in the darkness.
She could also sense everything around her, both living and
nonliving, and was a bit wary of a group of jelly fish floating
near the surface above her. But her keen senses didn’t protect her
from the enormous seaweed that sprang up from the ocean floor and
wrapped itself around her legs. The other gods were similarly
bound, struggling against the plants with their swords. Therese’s
legs burned where the weeds entangled her. She conjured her sword,
but every time she sliced away a stem, another took its place. She
quickened her pace, worried she’d hold up the others. Meg swam to
her side, her blonde curls loosed from their knot and flowing
around her face, and helped Therese get free, and then they
maneuvered as fast as they could behind Than through the narrow
entrance of a sea cave. After a few twists and turns, they
resurfaced inside of an above-water cave filled with
sheep.

Get out of the
water
, Tizzie warned.
And invisibility won’t help us against the Cyclopes. But do
dim yourselves.

Over here
, Alecto said.
Behind the
sheep.

Than crouched beside Therese in the
dark cave between a crowd of sheep and the moist stone wall. His
sisters huddled with them.

Are you okay?
he asked Therese.

Therese nodded. She was wet, cold, and
frightened and wanted to reach out and hold his hand but didn’t
want to risk rejection again.

Instead, she asked,
Why doesn’t Polyphemus wash his eye here, in the
cave? Why go all the way to the shore to do it?

He’s afraid he’ll drop
it,
Tizzie replied, who crouched on the
other side of Therese.
And he can’t swim.
It’s safer on the beach, where the water is shallow and where the
waves will bring it back to him if he drops it.

He’s the son of Poseidon and
he can’t swim?
Therese asked.

None of the Cyclopes can
swim,
Alecto explained from behind
Than.
That’s how Zeus keeps them trapped on
the island. They can’t build anything either, so they can’t sail
away.

Well, that didn’t seem fair. She
recalled the favorite line from Hades: “Life isn’t fair, but death
is.” Therese found herself agreeing with that sentiment more and
more.

Just then, the giant stood up from his
bed and stretched his fat arms over his head with a loud
wail.

I’d forgotten how big they
are
, Meg said.
And
filthy.

And ugly
, Tizzie added.

Than told Therese,
Odysseus and his men were once imprisoned here
years after the Trojan War. Odysseus tricked the Cyclops by saying
his name was “No one.”

Why “No one”?
Therese asked, vaguely recalling the story from
high school.

Than explained,
So when Odysseus attacked, Polyphemus kept
shouting, “No one is attacking me!” The other Cyclopes just ignored
him and Odysseus got away.

I thought he said “No
man,”
Therese said, remembering the story
more clearly now.

“
One” is a better
translation from the ancient Greek
, Alecto
replied.

“
Alright, yer dirty mops!”
Polyphemus shouted in a booming voice. “It’s time to get
moving!”

How rude
, Meg said in a tone of condemnation.

Therese was reminded that Meg enjoyed
punishing those with poor manners, and as frightened as Therese was
crouched behind the sheep in the cave of a Cyclops, she smiled at
the thought of Meg punishing Polyphemus for the poor treatment of
his sheep. Then Therese looked about the cave and realized how
vulnerable they were to exposure.

What will we do when all
the sheep have gone? What if he sees us? Shouldn’t we god travel
out of here?

If we leave too quickly,
he’ll see us on the beach,
Than
said.
And we’ll lose the element of
surprise.

But if we leave too
late…
Therese couldn’t finish the
thought.
Why can’t we zip home and zip
back?

The timing has to be just
right
, Than said.
Plus, god travel will make us vulnerable to our enemy. Whoever
that is.

We have to wait until he’s
taken the eye out himself
, Meg
explained.
If we try to take the eye out of
the socket while fighting him, we could damage the eye, and then we
won’t be able to save Mom and Athena.

I’ve got
it
, Alecto said.
Grab hold of a sheep and crouch behind it as you walk out with
it. Keep the sheep between you and the Cyclops.

Why can’t he sense
us?
Therese grabbed fistfuls of wool of the
nearest sheep and spoke to him.
It’s okay,
little lamb. I’m here to help.
When it
bleated an objection, she quickly pierced the hearts of the sheep
each of them were using as shields, and the sheep became their
docile friends.

Polyphemus can’t sense us
because his eye may be sharp but his brain is not,
Than said.

How do I get this sheep to
stop licking me?
Alecto
complained.

When they reached the mouth of the
cave, the sun was bright and the air fresh, but the wind blew the
goddesses’ hair. This wasn’t a problem for Alecto, whose red spiky
hair was short, but it was for the other three. They feared the
blond, red, and black would stand out in stark contrast to the
white wool of the sheep they were using as shields.

Where is a hair band when
you need one?
Therese
communicated.

She pierced more of the sheep and asked
them to huddle around them to better protect them all from the
giant.

“
Come on yer muts!”
Polyphemus bellowed when he noticed the sheep were clumping close
to the cave. “Come on out. I’ll be right back.”

Polyphemus turned his fat body toward
the shore and shuffled clumsily across the sand.

Let’s go closer to the
beach, sweetheart,
Therese said kindly to
the sheep.

A few steps from the shore, Polyphemus
turned and saw he’d been followed. “What yer stupid muttons doing?
Go wait for me!”

Don’t mind him, lovelies.
I’ll protect you
, Therese said to the sheep
she’d pierced.

The other sheep obeyed Polyphemus and
trotted toward the hills, but enough stayed behind to protect the
gods from the view of the Cyclops.

“
Aw, yer stupid lot,”
Polyphemus said to the ones who’d stayed behind. “Do what yer like,
but just yer wait. I’ll kick yer around to teach yer a
lesson.”

I won’t let that happen, you
poor little lambs!
Therese said.

Polyphemus turned to the shore and
plucked out his eye. Therese could see the big round orb, the size
of a softball, in his hand as he knelt by the water’s
edge.

Now!
The Furies said.

All five of them leapt toward the
Cyclops. Than pinned the giant’s free arm down as the Furies
snatched the eye from the end of the other.

Polyphemus wailed a thunderous cry,
which alarmed the neighboring Cyclopes. Therese could see them
ambling toward the shore, scattering sheep.

“
Let’s get out of here!”
Alecto shouted.

“
Point the eye toward the
sheep! Now!” Therese said.

As Meg held the eyeball toward the
sheep, Therese pierced Polyphemus’s heart with an arrow.

“
Okay! Let’s go!” Therese
shouted.

Then all four gods leapt into the air
just as the other Cyclopes reached the shoreline.

“
We promise to return it to
you!” Than called to Polyphemus below.

“
Father!” Polyphemus cried
in a wretched voice that reverberated across the sea.

The land and sea quaked and the sound
of a far off train alarmed the gods. Before they could make their
escape, a humpback whale leapt into the air and took Meg and the
eye of the Cyclops into its humongous mouth.

Thinking quickly, Therese placed
herself before the whale and shot it with her arrow.