“Is that running water?” asked Coco.
“Lethe Creek,” said Brian. “Finally. Come on, if you’ve had enough playing chicken with that creepy thing, Ollie, let’s go. I’m thirsty.”
They hurried on, not without several backward glances.
Ahead of them came the sound of roaring water. They could just see it shining through the trees when Brian halted and said, “Hold up a minute. Ollie, you’re bleeding.”
Ollie hadn’t noticed. She looked down and saw a good-sized gash on her knee. “I’ve got a Band-Aid in my bag,” Brian said. “Let’s clean it off at least. The last thing you need now is tetanus.”
“Tetanus,” said Ollie, “will just have to get in linebehind dehydration, exposure, starving, and, oh right, kidnapping by evil scarecrows.” But she didn’t protest when Brian dug into his bag and got out a teeny first-aid kit.
“They’ll definitely make you an Eagle Scout for this,” said Coco, impressed.
Brian looked proud of himself. He dug out an alcohol pad, some Neosporin, and a Snoopy Band-Aid, and passed them to Ollie. She wiped away the blood, dabbed on some ointment, stuck the Snoopy on, and felt strangely better. While they were at it, Coco changed the Band-Aid on her chin and Ollie changed the one on the back of Brian’s head. They all felt better after, not because they had such bad cuts or anything, but more because the last twenty-four hours had been so full of mysteries and impossible problems and being scared. It was a relief to deal with an ordinary problem, like a scraped knee.
“Thanks, Brian,” said Ollie, meaning it.
Brian looked a little embarrassed. “Don’t mention it.”
“Let’s go before the scarecrows come!” Coco said. “Or the ghost.” She was shifting from foot to foot.
Ollie had a sudden mental image of a skull-headed woman floating toward them, feet not quite touching the ground, with her two scarecrow sons lurching along behind. She shivered and got to her feet. They started off downhill toward the roaring of the water.
Brian was looking worried. “That gingerbread,” he said. “I—it wasn’t like Persephone, was it?”
Coco looked puzzled, but Ollie got it. “Persephone ate food in the underworld after being abducted by Hades,” she explained. “As a consequence of eating there, she had to spend part of every year in the underworld forever.”
Now Coco looked scared. “I don’t think I ate the gingerbread,” she said. “I think I spat it out.”
“Me too,” said Brian. “I spat it out. We shouldn’t have eaten it in the first place. But I was hungry.”
“It’s probably okay,” said Ollie. “Besides, we have to drink the water, and that comes from here too.” She shook her empty bottle for emphasis and pointed to the foaming creek. Now Brian and Coco lookedveryuncertain. “There might be weird rules to this place that we don’t know about,” said Ollie. “But dehydration is real.”
“So is dysentery,” said Brian. “Lethe Creek goes past how many farms?”
“In the real world it does,” said Ollie. “But here? Have you seenanyanimals? Like, any?”
“I thought I saw eyes the first night,” said Coco. “Green eyes. Like a raccoon or something. But maybe I was wrong.”
“I thought I heard an animal padding around while we were walking,” Brian admitted. “But I didn’t see anything.”
“We’re still going to have to risk the creek,” said Ollie. “We won’t get far without water.” While Brian and Coco waited, she went down the slippery bank of Lethe Creek. The water looked colder and darker and fasterhere. It whispered against the rocks like it had a voice. Ollie hurriedly filled her bottle and went back to the others. “Here,” she said. “Have a sip, and a snack will make us all feel better.” Ollie got the chocolate chip muffin from her lunch box. She broke it into three pieces and passed it around.
They all munched for a few minutes. “Man,” said Brian, looking happier. “Your dad really can bake.”
“Yeah,” said Ollie, and felt tears pricking her eyes. “He knits too. He knitted my socks.”
“Don’t be sad, Ollie,” Coco said at once. “You’ll see him again. We all will.” Coco lifted her chin. “After we beat those scarecrows.”
“You tell ’em, Tiny,” said Brian, and Coco glared.
Ollie grinned and took a cautious sip from her bottle. The water was cold and a little metallic. Brian said, “I really hope you’re right,” drank, and passed the bottle to Coco.
“Is this hell?” Coco whispered, small-voiced, after she drank.
“Nope,” said Ollie. “It definitely isn’t. Hell wouldn’t be so wet. Besides, we didn’t do anything bad. Also we’re not dead.”
She wasn’t really religious herself, and Brian looked doubtful, but he said, “Don’t worry, Tiny.”
