Persephone's Orchard (The Chrysomelia Stories) by Ringle Molly

Author:Ringle, Molly [Ringle, Molly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Central Avenue Publishing
Published: 2013-06-24T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

SOPHIE SANK HER CONCENTRATION INTO Persephone’s life, deliberately reducing the pace, as if pulling the reins of the ghost horses to slow their dash across the planet. Taking in a few weeks or months tonight would be enough; no need for digesting entire years. And considering this was the era when Persephone began studying the Underworld in earnest, there would be plenty of interesting memories to examine.

Persephone began her research on her next visit to the Underworld, bringing a pot of paint and a brush. She walked through the forest with Hades, asking him what each tree’s magical properties were, and marking their trunks accordingly.

“You’ve said ‘I don’t know’ for most of these,” she teased, painting an open half-circle on another trunk. The empty cup shape was her mark to indicate “don’t know”—knowledge to be filled in later, as it were.

“How would I know?” Hades said. “There aren’t many people who want to come to the Underworld and try eating the plants to see what happens. Nor would I ask them to. And I won’t allow you to do it, either, so don’t try.”

Kneeling by the trunk, she looked over her shoulder at him. “Have you tasted them all?”

“Nearly all, and when I say ‘I don’t know’ it means I haven’t noticed any effect. But I’m immortal, and the effect on mortals could be quite different.”

She rose, rubbing a wet spot of paint between her thumb and finger. “We’ll think of safe ways to test them. Besides, plants have uses beyond eating.”

“Like the harnesses, yes.”

“Exactly. Think what else we might discover.”

Their discoveries over that first summer were sundry but not earth-shaking. Persephone coaxed Hades into allowing her to taste very small amounts of some plants, once in a while, to learn their effects.

The red violets, when eaten, made you go harmlessly numb all over for about a quarter of the day.

“Wish I’d had these when Mother pulled my sore tooth last year,” Persephone said, touching her jaw in regret.

One tree’s berries, when boiled, dyed cloth and other materials a permanent dark red, and left a deep stain on skin too. Persephone dyed one of her cloaks, and it took a month before all the red faded from her hands.

Around there, Sophie awakened, and faced her first morning as a single woman in five months.

Today I just recover, and study, she vowed. And she did—with a pleasantly long video chat with Tabitha later, in which she related the break-up discussion in detail.

It felt good just to see Tab’s face on the video screen. She had rosy skin, playful blue eyes, a sheet of blonde hair cascading almost to her waist, and a plump figure that she clothed in dramatically contrasting solid colors. Today it was a fuchsia knit top with a plunging neck, and a black velvet wrap with a yellow sunflower pin on its shoulder.

“So here’s what you do,” Tabitha said. “Think of all his annoying traits, and how you’re free of them.”

Sophie pondered. “Always saying he was going to ‘grab’ food.

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