The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga) (9 page)

“Will you be ready by then?” Bobby said from the sofa. “You haven’t even showered.”

“Don’t you sass me, Bobby,” Jen said. “Not from where you’re sitting while I’m in here cooking.”

“Now, now,” Jen’s mother said. “No fighting on Christmas Eve.”

Pete entered the house from the barn and came into the kitchen to wash his hands. “Is Hip going to be there?” he asked Jen.

“I doubt it,” she said, though she’d been hoping he would. She tried not to think about it, but deep down inside, she’d been wishing all week—ever since Therese’s aunt and uncle invited the Holts to their Christmas Eve dinner.

“Are y’all into each other or something?” Bobby wanted to know.

“Bobby!” Jen’s mother reprimanded. “That’s none of your business.” Then she turned to Jen. “Are y’all?”

“Mom!” Jen pulled the roaster from the oven and set it on the stove before turning the oven off. “I better go wash up.”

As she skipped to the stairs she heard Pete answer for her. “I think they are, but I’m not sure it’s a good thing.”

Later that evening, the four Holts piled into the Suburban with their arms filled with platters of food carefully covered in foil. Jen was proud of how tender her ham had turned out. As they approached Therese’s driveway, though, her nerves fluttered beneath her skin.

Please be there, Hip.

Colorful strands of Christmas lights outlined the railing of the wrap-around porch, adding a festive flare to the occasion. Therese and her family greeted the Holts with hugs and “Merry Christmas Eve,” as platters of food were handed over and carried to the kitchen. Jen scanned everyone’s faces and accepted a hug from
Than, but she frowned when she saw Hip wasn’t among them.

Of course he isn’t here.

Why had she allowed herself to think otherwise?

Warm cocoa, hot apple cider, and cold eggnog were passed around in mugs and glasses, and small plates of chips and
dips and crackers and cheese were eaten as appetizers before the big meal. Carol and Richard carved the turkey in the kitchen as Lynn ran around with wrapped packages she kept digging out from beneath the tree. Jen’s mom and Bobby were being entertained by the toddler, laughing at the funny things she said.

“Dis one’s a
wobot! Wight? A wobot!” Lynn sang happily, shaking a big wrapped box half her size.

“I think she means
robot
,” Bobby said, laughing.

“
Wat I said? Wobot!” Lynn assured him.

Pete
and Than sat with Therese by the cozy fire, and Pete looked more relaxed for once, which was rare these days. He’d been spending way too much time in the barn saying strange words and bobbing his head up and down, like some kind of Native American shaman. Although Jen was disappointed that Hip had not come, she was surprised to find herself filled with joy and gratitude for the smiling friends and family surrounding her. A tear threatened to fall down her cheek, and it wasn’t one of sadness. Even after all that had happened—her father’s recent death, Pete’s decent into lunacy, and her frightening induction into the world of gods by Melinoe the Malevolent—she was overcome with happiness by the sight of Christmas.

Therese brought Jen from her reverie by beckoning her over, patting the small space next to her in the recliner.

“We can both fit here,” Therese said.

Jen smiled and squeezed onto the chair beside her friend and was glad when Therese wrapped an arm across her shoulders and caught her up with the conversation.

“Pete was just telling us about the new stallion,” Therese said.

“We named him after the General,” Jen said. “Did he tell you the General had to be put down?”

“Yeah,” Therese said. “That’s too bad.”

“He was really old,” Pete said. “He had a long life.”

“Good for him,” Than said.

Soon it was time to eat, and after, they exchanged gifts. Carol and Richard gave Jen’s mother a beautiful quilt Carol had found at a craft store in
Pagosa Springs. Squares of horses alternated with squares of pines and log cabins. Along the border were smaller squares alternating with guitars, boots, and cowboy hats. It was beautiful.

Jen’s mom had brought loaves of her famous banana bread already wrapped in freezer paper so they could be eaten throughout the year. Everyone loved her mother’s banana bread.

Lynn tore open a few of the presents from beneath the tree. She’d been right about the robot and had apparently picked it out at the store. For the rest of the evening, the conversation was punctuated by the beeping sounds and monotone words of the blinking, slow-moving robot.

Later, after slices of pumpkin pie had been eaten and dishes had been put away, after leftovers had been d
ivided among them and thank-yous and good-byes had been shared, the Holts loaded up the Suburban with their food and gifts and headed home.

Jen helped her family put away the food and unload the gifts and then headed upstairs to her room. When she opened the door, she was shocked to find Hip, in mortal form, sitting on her bed with a gift in his hands.

Chapter Six: Artemis’s Contest

One day in January, Therese responded to a distress call coming from a woman in Dorset, England
, about her pet red fox, Anya. The woman explained that her sweet little fox had been bought from a special breeder in Russia for almost five thousand pounds and had become an important part of her family in the past three years. The woman and her husband had built an outdoor enclosure for their Anya that reached a full acre and was fenced along the ground as well as the sides, but their little digger had somehow managed to find her way out and had been lost for four days. Even though fox hunting had been outlawed, people in the countryside continued to practice it, since the law was difficult to enforce and since it was an important part of their family traditions. The woman prayed to any god who would listen to please help her to find her Anya before the hounds did.

By this time, Therese had stopped taking the chariot, against
Hades’s recommendation, because she refused to live in fear until the wedding, which was still a full five months away. Plus, it wasn’t fair to Stormy to leave him idle in the Underworld stables. So she and Clifford mounted Stormy and sailed through the air to England in search of Anya, the red fox.

The woman, whose name was Belinda, prayed frantically. Therese wondered why she had waited four days to ask for help. In the two years she had been a goddess, Therese
had discovered that it was typical for people to use prayer as a last resort when it should be the first thing they tried.

When the English Channel came into view, Therese descended, searching with her keen eyes for Belinda’s home in the countryside. Stormy passed a ridge of bluffs, skirted down a deep limestone ridge, and headed into a low-lying valley full of trees and few country roads. There among the sparse cottages was Belinda’s, and, sure enough, less than a mile away, a fox hunt was taking place with at least a dozen hounds and four horsemen.

Therese attempted to hone in on the foxes in the area, hoping to distinguish Anya from the wild ones. Meanwhile, she commanded the hounds, “Do not kill.”

She watched with amusement as the pack of dogs circled in on one another, barking and whining.

“You’ve confused them,” Clifford said.

“I know,” she replied.
“Poor things. I’ve asked them to go against their instincts.”

“And their training,” Clifford added.

Therese didn’t normally interfere with hunts of this nature, but someone’s animal companion was in danger, and it was her job to save it.

Amidst the horsemen and their confused swearing, Artemis appeared. The two goddesses spotted one another immediately.

“You’ve crossed the line into my territory,” Artemis exclaimed. “I’ve ordered the hounds to continue their hunt.”

“But there’s a domesticated fox lost in these woods,” Therese said. “I need to find her and return her safely to her humans.”

“Foxes were never meant to be pets,” the goddess of the hunt insisted. “People could use a good lesson.”

“Artemis, please,” Therese objected. “The woman is frantic. She’s loved this fox for three years.”

The hounds picked up the scent of a fox and ran through the woods, barking with excitement. The four horsemen shouted hurrahs and followed the pack. Therese took Stormy among them, commanding all foxes in the area to hide.

“You can’t command the wild animals!” Artemis glowered at her. “How dare you!”

The wild animals would already know to hide. Therese had given the command for Anya’s sake.

Aretmis
gave the foxes a counter-command.

Up ahead, through a dense wood, a red fox scrambled up a tree. Since most red foxes didn’t know how to climb trees, Therese suspected this could be Anya. She called out to the fox by name, and the animal responded. The hounds picked up the scent and circled the tree, barking ferociously. Therese shot each one of them with her arrows of love until their barks became inconsolable whines. But by then, the horsemen had already spotted the fox.

To Therese’s horror, Artemis jumped into the tree and flung the fox down into the pack of hounds. The hounds whined but did not attack. The horsemen swore.

Then Artemis took her bow and fitted an arrow to it.

“No!” Therese pleaded.

Artemis let the arrow fly. Therese god traveled from
Stormy’s back and took the arrow in her thigh. Fire seared through her flesh. She gritted her teeth, scooped up the fox, and god traveled back to Stormy.

“Where did it go?” one of the horsemen cried.

“One of the hounds must have it!” another said.

Artemis followed Therese. “This isn’t over, goddess of animal companions.”

Therese left the huntress and delivered the fox to the ground just outside its enclosure, where Belinda’s husband knelt mending the hole in the fence. The fox poked its head up through the hole and was spotted by the man. He said Anya’s name, and she leapt into his arms.

When the man called to his wife and Belinda ran from the house with glee, Therese was overjoyed by the reunion, but she knew Artemis had meant what she had said about this not being over.

***

Than was not happy. He looked across his sitting room at Therese, who leaned against the stone wall with her arms crossed. The wound from Artemis’s arrow had already healed, but Than wished it had remained as a reminder to Therese of the danger she was in.

“The timing of this couldn’t be worse,” he said.

“We can’t live our lives in constant fear,” Therese said. “And this is important.”

“Why can’t this matter be settled in court?”
Than grabbed the poker by the hearth and stoked the wood. He loved the smell of burning wood, and the flames it produced were less harsh than those cast by the Phelegethon.

“You know why.”

He turned to face her again. “No I don’t. Taking this matter to court could be a welcomed diversion from all the tension between the Olympians. Working together to solve a common problem could help ease some of the tension.” Plus, he didn’t like her running about out in the open, unprotected. No one knew what Zeus’s plans were, even if Apollo did see them all at the wedding.

“What would be the likely ruling?” Therese said, folding her arms more tightly against her chest. “The last time we asked the court to settle something, it ended in a contest,
remember? Me against McAdams.”

“I remember,” he said bitterly. Why did she have to get so snarky when he only wanted to protect her?

“Artemis is going to kill Anya if I don’t accept her challenge.”

He moved across the room and put his hands on her shoulders. She was beautiful, even when angry. “You are the most compassionate person I know. I love that about you.”

“But?”

“But this is one fox, and these are dangerous times.”

“Than!” She huffed and pulled away from him, crossing the room toward the mantle. “When, since I’ve known you, have these not been dangerous times?”

She had a point.
Never.

“Don’t you think I have even the slightest chance of winning?” she asked, suddenly subdued.

He went to her and took her hands. “Of course I do. I’m not worried about the outcome of the contest. It’s how vulnerable you’ll be during the contest that worries me.”

“Apollo sees our wedding. Nothing’s going to happen.”

“He’s not like the Fates, Therese. His visions change. What he sees is not set in stone.”

She lowered her eyes, and he could tell her mind was hard at work, searching for an answer. It must have found it, for she looked up at him with a fierce expression on her face.