Chapter Thirteen
Safe Passage
I get up early the next morning, and make sure I’ve got what I need before sneaking out of the house. At least, I hope it looks like sneaking. I want to be sure Uncle Karl sees me leave.
I move fast, heading to the creek. When I get there, I see the little boat tied to a post by the shore, downstream from the bridge we drove over when we came here. I untie it and I’m stepping in when I hear his voice.
“Good for you,” Uncle Karl says. “You figured that out—Haydee’s Creek, the river to Hades. You’re finally accepting things, Mort.”
He climbs in beside me, smiling smugly. “Normally, the passenger rows, but you’re special, aren’t you?”
Uncle Karl seems to be changing before my eyes. His beard is getting longer and thicker, and he looks older, but he pulls the oars strongly, and we move into deep water. He’s becoming Karon, the ferryman. In my pocket, sharp edges prick my fingers. When the water looks deep enough, I stand, the boat rocking under my feet.
“What are you doing?” Karon spreads the oars, as if trying to stabilize the boat.
I clear my throat. “Ferryman, I demand you take this token to Persephone.”
He starts to laugh, and then I wipe the hilarity off his face by pulling out my mother’s gold leaf pin. “This golden bough is safe passage to and from Hades, because it’s treasured by Persephone. You know it’s true.”
I hope it’s true. That’s what all the websites said. But if I got it wrong somehow, I don’t know what else I can try.
I hold my breath as Karon stares at the gold pin. “How did you -”
I cut him off. “By law, you have to carry this safely to Persephone.”
“Now, let’s talk about this, Mort,” he says, still eyeing the pin. “Of course you can visit your parents, as often as you want. You don’t need to show me that token.”
“I know I don’t need to,” I tell him, and my heart leaps because the websites were right. I think this might actually work. “You’re the one who needs to do something. You have to take it to Persephone. You know that.”
I hold the pin out to him, and he unwillingly lets go of one of the oars, and reaches up for it.
I open my hand, as if to let it drop into his, and at the last minute I shift my weight to jostle the boat so it rocks unsteadily. Mom’s gold pin spins out of my hand toward the creek, or river, or whatever it is. Karon snarls and stretches overboard for it. I tip the boat, sliding us both into cold water. I push myself away from him, toward the creek bank.
“Drown, ferryman,” I say.
I remember telling Mr. Gordon he was having a heart attack. Would he have died then if I hadn’t said it? If Uncle Karl told me the truth, then I do have the power to kill people.
“You fool,” Karon splutters at me. “I can’t die!”
“No more than my parents could,” I tell him, letting myself hate him for what he’s done to us. “But your human part can drown, like you killed their human part, even if the Karon in the underworld is still fine.”
“Now, Mort,” he begins, trying to sound reasonable.
“You made me kill your wife,” I shout. “Eric’s mother! Was Aunt Daphne some sort of goddess, who’s in the Underworld right now, waiting for you? Then she’ll be glad to see you again, I’m sure! Or was she human, Karon? Is she dead for real?”
“Keep Daphne out of it,” he yells right back. Then he visibly forces himself to calm down. “There’s no need for you to do this.”
I cut him off. “There’s a need for you to get the golden bough and carry it to Hades,” I say. “Or you’ll be punished. Of course, you might be punished for the way you’ve tricked Pluto and Persephone out of their human lives, but maybe they’re used to playing this game. I don’t know, and I don’t care. I just know you have to take the golden bough to Hades or suffer the consequences. Now, drown, Karon!”
His green eyes catch the morning light and flash malevolently at me. Then he sinks beneath the cloudy water to search for the small golden pin he must carry to Hades, even though I have decreed that searching for it in the depths will cost him his human life.
– End Chapter Thirteen –
