Read Online The Gatekeeper's Sons (The Gatekeeper's Trilogy) by Eva Pohler - Free Book Online
Authors: Eva Pohler
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countertop. As much as she loved Carol, Therese’s brain wanted more.
She googled “Underworld mythology” and was surprised by all the links that appeared on her search results page. She clicked on the first link: “Hades, brother of Zeus and Poseidon, was the king of the Underworld, which he ruled with his bride Persephone, whom he kidnapped and made his queen. Guarded by Cerberus, a three-headed dog, the Underworld was underground and separated from the land of the living by five rivers, one of which was the Acheron, across which the dead were ferried.”
Therese sat bewildered as she read articles describing many of the features about which she had dreamed. Not all the sources agreed on the details, but there were enough commonalities about them and her “tour” that made her hair stand on end: Charon, the old boatman; Tartarus and the Elysian Fields; Lethe, the river of forgetfulness; Sisyphus and his huge rock. Maybe she had read this stuff somewhere before?
A particular passage soon caught her eye: “ Thanatos, also known as Orcus and Mors, was the god of Death. The son of Night and twin brother of Hypnos (Sleep), he was believed to be a beautiful young man but, because of his ghastly task, was very unpopular with both man and gods.”
Therese’s heart pounded in her chest. She felt she might be sick. Surely she had read this stuff before? Of course she had, she thought, taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it.
One article depicted Hades and his sons as evil demons. Therese shuddered. Then she clicked on another link. An image of the Grim Reaper, also named Death, tall and hooded with a gruesome face, long, thin hands, one of which held a scythe, made Therese flinch.
Clifford must have sensed her anxiety, because he jumped on the bed beside her, shook his stubby tail, and looked pleadingly into her eyes.
“You want to go outside?” she asked.
He immediately pranced around her room, full of eager excitement, running through the cluster of balloons that were beginning to sag. Puffy hopped onto his wheel and ran with enthusiasm, even though he usually waited to exercise at night. Even Jewels poked her head over the side of her plastic tank to peek at the activity around her.
Therese carefully took her tortoise into her hands and placed her against her chest. “You can come another time, Jewels.” She stroked the shell and then put the tortoise back on its log in the tank with the hot lamp shining.
As she and Clifford went down the stairs—he like a speeding bullet and she a little more slowly than usual—panic gripped Therese’s heart. She had almost forgotten. She had almost expected her parents to be downstairs reading or watching TV. She stopped on the bottom step and looked past the kitchen to the empty living room. Where was Carol?
Therese went to the deck outside, followed by Clifford. Carol sat at the wooden table talking on the phone, her body turned toward the reservoir side, away from the giant elms in back. The sun was just over the lake, heading toward its rest behind the mountains on the other side. The sky was a clear blue, and though it was still a long time till dusk, some of the animals were making themselves visible. There were always the birds hopping from tree to tree, twittering anxiously about this and that. But now there were also the chipmunks scampering around, and across from them, two deer plucked grass beneath the trees.
“Of course, Lieutenant,” Carol said. “We’ll be there.” Carol pushed the end button on the portable phone. “No cell reception out here, I guess.” She waved the receiver. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been land-locked.”
“We’re lucky we get good Internet service out here. We had to use dial up until just a few months ago.”
“Ugh.”
“Did the lieutenant have any news?”
“They want us to come for a line up tomorrow, to see if you can identify the man whose face you saw, you know.”
“They think they got the
She googled “Underworld mythology” and was surprised by all the links that appeared on her search results page. She clicked on the first link: “Hades, brother of Zeus and Poseidon, was the king of the Underworld, which he ruled with his bride Persephone, whom he kidnapped and made his queen. Guarded by Cerberus, a three-headed dog, the Underworld was underground and separated from the land of the living by five rivers, one of which was the Acheron, across which the dead were ferried.”
Therese sat bewildered as she read articles describing many of the features about which she had dreamed. Not all the sources agreed on the details, but there were enough commonalities about them and her “tour” that made her hair stand on end: Charon, the old boatman; Tartarus and the Elysian Fields; Lethe, the river of forgetfulness; Sisyphus and his huge rock. Maybe she had read this stuff somewhere before?
A particular passage soon caught her eye: “ Thanatos, also known as Orcus and Mors, was the god of Death. The son of Night and twin brother of Hypnos (Sleep), he was believed to be a beautiful young man but, because of his ghastly task, was very unpopular with both man and gods.”
Therese’s heart pounded in her chest. She felt she might be sick. Surely she had read this stuff before? Of course she had, she thought, taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it.
One article depicted Hades and his sons as evil demons. Therese shuddered. Then she clicked on another link. An image of the Grim Reaper, also named Death, tall and hooded with a gruesome face, long, thin hands, one of which held a scythe, made Therese flinch.
Clifford must have sensed her anxiety, because he jumped on the bed beside her, shook his stubby tail, and looked pleadingly into her eyes.
“You want to go outside?” she asked.
He immediately pranced around her room, full of eager excitement, running through the cluster of balloons that were beginning to sag. Puffy hopped onto his wheel and ran with enthusiasm, even though he usually waited to exercise at night. Even Jewels poked her head over the side of her plastic tank to peek at the activity around her.
Therese carefully took her tortoise into her hands and placed her against her chest. “You can come another time, Jewels.” She stroked the shell and then put the tortoise back on its log in the tank with the hot lamp shining.
As she and Clifford went down the stairs—he like a speeding bullet and she a little more slowly than usual—panic gripped Therese’s heart. She had almost forgotten. She had almost expected her parents to be downstairs reading or watching TV. She stopped on the bottom step and looked past the kitchen to the empty living room. Where was Carol?
Therese went to the deck outside, followed by Clifford. Carol sat at the wooden table talking on the phone, her body turned toward the reservoir side, away from the giant elms in back. The sun was just over the lake, heading toward its rest behind the mountains on the other side. The sky was a clear blue, and though it was still a long time till dusk, some of the animals were making themselves visible. There were always the birds hopping from tree to tree, twittering anxiously about this and that. But now there were also the chipmunks scampering around, and across from them, two deer plucked grass beneath the trees.
“Of course, Lieutenant,” Carol said. “We’ll be there.” Carol pushed the end button on the portable phone. “No cell reception out here, I guess.” She waved the receiver. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been land-locked.”
“We’re lucky we get good Internet service out here. We had to use dial up until just a few months ago.”
“Ugh.”
“Did the lieutenant have any news?”
“They want us to come for a line up tomorrow, to see if you can identify the man whose face you saw, you know.”
“They think they got the
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