Andy had had just about enough of people being able to speak to animals. I mean, Robin acts like the heron is his mother, Andy sighed. The bird was a heron right? Or, like, an ornamental goose? Anywho, Robin put absolute trust that the bird was leading them right, even though he'd confessed that he had the feeling they were still heading the wrong way.
The ornamental goose led them farther and farther into the swamp. Andy swore she saw at least five alligators lurking on the edge of the waterways, but they came no closer to the canoe. Like the ornamental goose was keeping them back. But birds did not have battles of wits with crocodilians.
"We're so totally lost," Andy groaned.
"Which means we're so totally dead," Nasim sighed. Andy guessed that he had also spotted the alligators.
"We'll be fine," Robin said. He had become tense and somber, a total change from his normal cheerful, laughing self.
The ornamental goose turned down one of the many tributaries and disappeared. They paddled the canoe after it and suddenly came out into an open space flooded with water. Tall green reeds filled the space, making it look as though they were paddling through a field. Andy's paddle scraped against the muddy bottom, so the water couldn't have been shallower than three feet.
"Sawgrass marsh," Nasim reported.
A white-washed, twisted branched stuck up out of the center of the marsh and the egret had settled there.
"Something's over there," Robin said, and they started to go faster. But the water quickly became too shallow and Robin leapt out of the canoe, which quickly rose in the water. The boy splashed through the water, the reeds impeding his running. Nasim met Andy's eyes and they scrambled out to follow.
"I swear by all the gods, if I get eaten by the ticking crocodile I'm going to kill Robin," Nasim muttered.
Robin gave a growl of frustration as he got to the dead tree. The egret winged away like a ghost, leaving the boy standing under the tree.
"She isn't here," Robin's strangled voice came back to them. "No one's here!"
"Someone was here," Andy whispered, coming level with Robin. Up close, she could see that the tree had several branches that plunged down into the water like a white, bony hand. And in between the branches there was a weathered stone pedestal, like a miniature megalith. And seated on the pedestal, looking like it had been carved a few years ago, was a wooden figure of a woman that stood at about a foot tall. She may have been painted once, but that was long ago and the colors had faded.
"The Palladium," Nasim breathed as he arrived, untangling reeds from his pant legs.
A silver chain had been wrapped around the statue's waist and trailed down to bracket set in the monolith. A tiny silver lock dangled from the chain.
"But Oenone isn't here!" Robin snarled, turning to splash around to the other side of the Palladium.
"Chain looks weak," Nasim muttered. "I might be able to break it." He laid his hands on the links, which flared purple and then returned to their normal state. There was no visible change and Nasim looked worried.
"I don't suppose we can just pick it up and carry it away," Andy sighed, then tried. Of course (no surprise) she couldn't even lift the statue from its pedestal.
"Finally, this quest is starting to feel like a real, normal quest," Andy said, slightly satisfied. "Things were getting too easy."
"The ship fell apart and we got attacked by maenads and you think this quest is easy?" Nasim asked.
"She was here." Robin's voice was so low that Andy almost missed it.
"How do you know?" Nasim asked, walking around to the other side of the tree and coming to Robin's side. Andy followed and saw Robin gazing down at the water.
"She's a water nymph," Robin explained. "They cleanse the water around them."
"Like a water purifier?" Andy asked.
"See how the water is clearer here than anywhere else in the swamp?" Robin asked, pointing between the reeds. Indeed, the water did sparkle and wink back at Andy and she could see a minnow dart away amid the tall reeds.
"And the sawgrass is greener," Robin added, his fingers gently caressing a stem of the plant. Andy looked around and saw that the reeds nearest them were indeed brighter than their fellows farther away.
"Wherever she is," Nasim said slowly. "I'd bet a drachma the key to this chain is with her."
"How will we find her?" Andy whined. Robin smiled and pointed down; the sawgrass that was greener trailed away a few feet, marking a clear path.
"Besides," Robin said. "We could always ask another water nymph."
Andy had been about to ask where they would find another naiad, then was really glad she didn't because that would have been the single stupidest thing she'd ever said in her life: they were in a wetlands.
Robin knelt in the water, seemingly not caring that he was getting soaked. He trailed his fingers in the water and closed his eyes, whispering.
"Holy, oblique, who swiftly soar through air, fountains, and dews, and winding streams your care, seen and unseen," he muttered, his voice just loud enough for Andy to hear. "Who joy with wandering wide, and gentle course through flowery vales to glide. Hear my prayer."
"Look," Nasim breathed, and Andy looked up. At the very edges of the marsh came a ripple, causing the sawgrass to wave and nod their heads. Their canoe, held in place only because of the thickness of the plants, bobbed gently.
"Robin," Andy said, her voice cracking slightly.
"Do not be afraid," Robin said quietly. "They will not hurt you."
The ripple grew closer and closer, the water rising at least a foot higher than usual and threatening to drench Robin entirely.
And the water kept rising and rising until the ripples stood at the height of Nasim. And they stopped their advance, suddenly separating themselves into distinct forms.
About twelve girls, their forms rippling like clear water, stood in a circle around the Palladium. Their colors ranged from purple to blue to green. Most of them were green. Only one of them had a solid, flesh-like form.
She had greenish skin and glowing, silvery eyes. Her hair was dark green and looked a little like sawgrass. The gown she wore was woven of reeds and stopped just above the knees. She, like her fellows, were turned toward Robin - not the Palladium.
"Vetetv ahmoglee ocalee, focshwah whononwah?" the girl asked in a language Andy did not understand.
"There was a girl here," Robin responded in Greek. "Where is she now?"
"You speak Greek," the naiad smiled, then pointed. "Our sister is that way. In the Hippolyte School for Girls."
"How far?" Robin asked.
"Outside the water lands," the naiad responded. "We will guide you."
"Thank you," Robin said, nodding.
Two of the girls had drifted away and their watery hands found the edges of the canoe, pulling it closer.
"What about the Palladium?" Nasim asked.
"You bet a drachma that the key is with Oenone," Robin reminded him. "Now, the sawgrass naiad knows where Oenone is. Are you still willing to risk that drachma?" Robin got into the canoe, still being held steady by the two nymphs. He settled down, his legs crossed and his palms resting on his knees.
Andy and Nasim met each others eye and the boy shrugged. "Sure," he agreed, getting into the canoe as well. Andy followed, casting nervous glances at the two watery girls. Almost immediately all twelve nymphs melted back into the water, but Andy could still see their faces looking up at them.
The canoe jerked and began to move forward more rapidly than should be possible as the naiads grasped the bottom of the boat and began to pull it along swiftly as a fish swimming.
"Okay, this is way better than a fan boat," Andy grinned as the wind whipped her hair back.
A/N: Footnotes
The Ticking Crocodile: a Peter Pan reference
"Holy, oblique, who swiftly...": To the Nymphs, from the Initiations of Orpheus
"Vetetv ahmoglee...": my admittedly pathetic attempt to replicate the Miccossukee language. The Miccossukees Indians live in and around the Florida Everglades.