The Poison In The Blood Read Online Free PDF Page B

Thessaly.
    “Where is Thessaly?” asked Dianeera.
    “It is far to the north,” replied her brother.
    “What is it like?”
    “It is wild and savage, full of strange monsters. Just be thankful you will never visit it.”
    Dianeera smiled a twisted smile. Without another word, she turned and left. She climbed back on to her horse and squeezed her thighs against its sides. The horse clattered down the street that led to the city gates. Dianeera asked the way to Thessaly and a guard pointed. Dianeera rode hard for three days.
    On the fourth day, she saw steep and rugged mountains ahead of her. Thessaly. She rode through the night on the empty road. Only in the morning did she see someone ahead of her, striding fast. He carried a club. He had a bow and arrows slung over his shoulder. He wore a lion’s skin on his back.
    It was Heracles, of course. He was furious. He would not talk to his wife. But nor did he send her back. Instead, the two of them continued on their way together into the mountains. Soon they heard a crashing and a roaring coming from ahead of them. Heracles laid a hand on his wife’s thigh and looked up at her. For the first time he spoke. “Now we have a problem,” he said. He helped her down from the horse and led her round a curve of the mountain road.
    Then he pointed. Ahead of them was a river. Spray boiled. The current surged. The opposite bank was in the far distance. “Your horse will never make it,” said Heracles. “And I am nervous, if I carry you, that I might lose my footing. One slip, and you would be swept away, dashed to pieces on the rocks. You cannot go on. You must make your way back to Argos.”
    Dianeera stared at the river helplessly. She twisted a curl of hair around her finger. She did not know what to say. At that very moment, she heard a clopping of hooves behind her.
    “Perhaps”, said a voice, “I might be of some help.”
     
     
NINE
     
    Dianeera spun round and gasped in amazement. The voice had come from only half a man. From his hips upwards he was human: he had a curling beard, pointed ears and hair all over his body. Below his hips, however, he was a horse: black and glossy, with a swishing tail. He bowed, and as he did so his front hooves clopped again on the rocks. “I am Nessus,” said the horse-man. “I am the keeper of this ford. I help anyone who wishes to cross the river.”
    Dianeera thanked him, then she saw that her husband was staring at Nessus with narrowed eyes. She wondered why.
    “Very well,” said Heracles, after a long pause. “If you could take my wife on your back, I would be very grateful.”
    Nessus bowed again and gave a polite sweep with his hand. “After you.”
    “No.” Heracles reached for Dianeera. “After you .” He lifted up his wife and placed her on Nessus’s back.
    Dianeera wrapped her arms tightly around the horse-man’s body and looked down nervously at Heracles.
    “I am watching you,” he said. As he did so, he reached for his bow and unslung it from his back. He leaned on it, still staring at Nessus. “I am watching you both.”
    Nessus flared his nostrils, and tossed his head. With a clattering of hooves he was away. He hurried over the rocks that led down to the river and plunged into the water. Dianeera gasped. The water was freezing and she could feel the currents tugging at her. She clung to Nessus for dear life, and she looked over her shoulder to see Heracles starting to cross the river. He was holding his bow high above him. He did not slip, but it was slow going for him. Nessus was much faster. Soon he had reached midway across the river. The noise was deafening. The spray shimmered and formed rainbows. The currents eddied and swirled. Dianeera clung even more tightly to Nessus, threading her fingers through the curling hair on his chest. Suddenly she felt him move even faster. He was now past the worst and began to canter through the shallows. He clattered up on to dry land but did not slow