Than could no longer put off giving his brother a reprieve from guiding the dead, for he could feel tension building somewhere, either among the humans or the gods or both, and so, since he wasn’t sure, anyway, how he should proceed with Therese, he decided this day would be as good as any to return to his duties.
Hip appeared to Than where he hovered over the deep granite abyss that seemed to have no end to the darkness below. “Thanks, bro’,” Hip said, too anxious to stop and chat. He flew on by and went straight to the poppies and into the realm of the dreamers.
Than hadn’t been there for a full second when he sensed the souls of many ready to be guided. He disintegrated into five and dispatched to three different regions of the world.
One of the souls in his custody proved to be a small old woman kneeling in her garden bed. Her body lay in a heap in the grass with a spade in her gloved hand and a plant with its root ball exposed, as though she were about to plant it before she died, and her hand had clutched it and stiffened. The foliage on the plant, which Than did not know, since he knew nothing about such things, was withering, dying along with its caretaker. Much to his astonishment, as the woman’s soul climbed from the heap in the grass and turned toward him, bewildered as all souls of the dead were, she held in one hand a projection of the withered plant. Never before in the history of his existence had he seen a plant-like soul accompany a human. Plenty of animals, billions of them, and at times even insects, had come with him to Charon to be taken over to the other side and, unlike the humans who must be judged, guided straight into the waters of the Lethe and its everlasting oblivion. Cats and dogs and other pets sometimes came with their humans when they died together, and the animals were allowed to go with their humans to the Elysian Fields; but never had Than seen a plant-like soul, and so he stood a moment, transfixed.
“Who are you?” the woman finally asked.
“Death,” he answered, as he always did. “Your time has come. Take my hand.”
“But I hadn’t finished yet,” she said. “My garden’s nearly done. Look. I have one more to plant. Can you wait?”
The answer was always no, though because of the circumstances, Than hesitated before saying so. “Don’t worry,” he said in a calming voice, and together they hovered over the land toward the abyss, and as they flew, she spoke to him as so many others had before her.
“How will my husband manage without me? He’s disabled. He can’t care for himself. Who will cook for him? What will he do?”
“Someone will take over your duties. Someone always does.”
“I didn’t get to say good-bye. He’ll be so shocked. He might even go into cardiac arrest.”
“And then he can join you. Come this way.”
As they approached Charon and his raft, Charon also noticed the plant and furrowed his brow. “What’s this?” he asked.
The woman looked at the plant in her hand. “This? It’s Lily of the Nile. I didn’t get to finish planting it. I was just about to. May I go back and finish?”
Charon shook his head.
“Have you seen this before?” Than asked. He allowed the woman’s feet to touch the bank of the river, knowing it would calm her.
“Yes,” Charon said as Than and the woman boarded the raft. “But not often. It happened twice in Hermes’s time.”
“Do plants have souls?” Than asked.
“That is a question for your father, Thanatos,” Charon replied.
Than disintegrated and dispatched another of himself to Hades’s palace, where he found his father engaged with Hermes.
The two gods looked agitated, and when they felt Than enter the chamber, they stopped talking and turned their faces toward him.
“Is something wrong?” Than asked.
“Always,” Hades said, “But I was about to ask you the same question.”
“It can wait, if you’re busy,” Than replied.
“Out with it, son.”
“All right then. “ He swallowed, feeling foolish now and embarrassed. “Do plants have souls?”
Hades narrowed his eyes. “The gods are about to break into war and you come here asking about plants?”
“I said it could wait, Father. You insisted. And the gods are always on the brink of war. Questions are meant to be asked and, when they can be, answered.”
Hades sat up on his throne and looked down his thin nose at Than. A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Then he said, “Bravo. Yes, Thanatos. How right you are.”
“So? Charon told me Hermes has seen something resembling a plant soul twice. I saw one just now. What does this mean?”
Hermes started to speak, and then stopped, looked at Hades, and waited.
Hades plucked at his beard, deep in thought. “Some do,” he said. “Plants have been evolving since as long as I can remember, and some have gone beyond simple sensory reflexes, such as turning to face the sun to make food. Some seem to be infused with a primitive consciousness, like those of many insects, and when it is coupled with a deep bond with a sentient being, a kind of symbiosis seems to be awakened between the sentient being and the plant being. Plant souls have never come here of their own accord, but in the company of a caring human soul, they have on the three rare occasions you have mentioned. I suspect we shall see more of this in the centuries to come.”
Than felt a flicker of happiness and a lightness of spirit as he pondered the ramifications of his father’s words. He said, “I want the woman’s Lily of the Nile for my rooms. Is that possible? She won’t remember it once she reaches the streams of the Lethe. I want to change the circumstances of my dwelling by infusing it with more life. Can I keep the plant?”
Hades shrugged. “It makes no difference to me.”
Another thought occurred to Than. “If I can maintain a plant soul in my rooms, what of animal souls? We have Cerberus and your steeds, Swift and Sure, but they were immortal from their birth, so I never considered adding other animals as companions down here. If I can have the Lily of the Nile without any consequences to you and to the rest of the world, why not a dog or a hamster?”
Hermes fell to the floor overcome with laughter. Hades soon laughed along with him. Than stood with his mouth agape.
“What’s so funny?”
“Never in a million centuries,” Hades managed to say in between laughs, “would I have ever imagined that one of my sons would come to me asking if he could have a pet!”
“How human of you!” Hermes added, holding onto his belly.
Than felt his face flush, but he stood his ground. “And your answer then I presume is yes?”
Hades nodded but could not speak, for when he looked at Hermes rolling on the floor, he broke out in another fit of laughing.
Than had other questions for his father, very serious and private ones, but he knew he would have to wait till Hermes left to ask them.