" 'And now farewell-' "

"Wait up!" Kalleos exclaimed. "Pinfeather hasn't told me anything. What happened, poet?"

"In a moment," Pindaros said. "Let her finish."

" 'And now farewell from your grateful lover Hypereides, darling Kalleos. The Rope Makers say a man who goes to war must return with his hoplon or upon it. I've tested mine and it won't float, so I mean to carry it back. Till then I remain your loving Hypereides.' "

When the women had subsided somewhat, Pindaros asked, "Do you really want me to tell you what happened last night? In front of everyone here? I warn you, if I do I'll tell the truth. You've been a generous hostess, Kalleos, so if you'd prefer to hear it in private… "

"Go ahead," Kalleos told him.

"From the beginning?"

She nodded.

"All right, then I'll start by saying that when Eurykles made his bet it struck me that Phye's tale had been very convenient for him. When she said she'd come with us-alone out of all these women-I felt sure something was in the wind. Maybe I hadn't drunk quite as much as the others, or maybe I've got a stronger head. I don't know. How much were you supposed to get, Phye?"

Kalleos said, "Never mind that," and Phye, through bruised lips, "An owl."

"We found an opened grave," Pindaros continued, "and at first I thought Eurykles had done it himself; later I realized it would have been too great a risk. Phye was frightened, and she went to him for protection. That told me she knew Eurykles better than any of the rest of us, and that she was really afraid. If she'd been faking it, she would almost certainly have grabbed Hypereides, since he'd bet the most money."

"Go on," Kalleos said grimly.

"When we were here, Eurykles had seemed very drunk. I suppose you have to seem drunk to bet that you can raise the dead. But at the burial ground, he was the soberest of all, except for Latro, who hadn't been drinking. Phye said she was leaving, and it seemed to me she meant it; but it also seemed that Eurykles either thought it was part of some plan or wanted her to believe he thought that, so that she'd go ahead with it when she got her nerve back."

"She didn't," Kalleos told him grimly. "She came here."

"I can see that. Phye, I'd put a slice of cucumber on that eye, if I were you."

"Nothing you've talked about would have horrified Hypereides," Kalleos said. "Get on with it."

"All right, I will. Eurykles raised the woman from the grave. She stood up and talked to us, but she was quite clearly dead. Her face was livid, and her cheeks beginning to fall in."

Kalleos leaned toward him, her eyes narrowed to slits.

"He did it?"

Pindaros shrugged. "He sacrificed a cock, and she stood up and spoke. When the rest of us left, she followed him into the city." He turned to Phye. "What were you supposed to do? Supply the voice, or actually appear as the ghost?"

She said, "You knew. Even when we were back here, you knew."

"Because I bet with Hypereides? I knew enough to know who was going to win a strange bet proposed by a stranger. So does Hypereides, I imagine, when he's sober."

By then the women were all talking at once. Hilaeira whispered across the table, "Latro, did you touch her? Do you remember?"

I nodded.

"Which brings us to Latro," Pindaros said to her. "I can't go back to our shining city until I've taken him to the shrine of the Great Mother. I won't blame you if you don't want to come, though you're welcome to if you wish."

Hilaeira said, "My father-he's dead-had a business connection here. I thought perhaps he'd let me stay with him a while."

"Certainly," Pindaros said.

"This is so near Advent, where they have the mysteries of the Grain Goddess, and I'd love to be an initiate. They'll take me, won't they? Despite the war?"

"They'll accept anyone who hasn't committed murder, I believe," Pindaros told her. "But there's quite a period of study involved-half a year or so. Kalleos, what do you know of the mysteries? Is there any reason Hilaeira couldn't be initiated?"

Kalleos shook her head, smiling again. "Not a reason in the world. And Hilaeira, dear, I heard what you said about your poor uncle, or whoever it was. Believe me, dear, you don't need him. You're welcome to stay right here with me for as long as you like."

"Why, that's very kind of you," Hilaeira said.

"It does take a while, you understand. But you're lucky, because it's right about now that they start. You'll have to go down to Advent every so often all summer, and there are fasts and ceremonies and whatnot. I've never gone through it, but I know people who have."

"Did it change their lives?" Hilaeira asked.

"Hm? Oh, yes, absolutely. Gave them a whole new outlook, and a better one too, I'd say. And it's ever so useful socially. Where was I? Washings-there's a lot of them, mostly in the Ilissus. In the fall they admit you to the lesser mysteries. After that would be the time for you to go home, if you want to. Then a year later you come back, go through the lesser mysteries again, and then the greater mysteries. Then you're an initiate and a friend of the goddess's forever, and every year you can come back for the greater mysteries, though you don't have to. Those last four days. The lesser mysteries are two, I think. But you really ought to go down to Advent and talk to the priests."

"Is it far?"

"No. If you start when we're through eating, you… Pinfeather, what's the matter with you?"

"It's just that-Last night, Latro said-By all the gods!"

Hilaeira was looking at him too. "For a man who takes talking corpses in his stride, you seem a bit distraught."

"I should be. I am! I've been an idiot. Io, do you remember what the prophetess said? I want to be sure my memory's not playing me false."

"I think so," Io told him. "Let me see. 'Look under the sun… ' "

"Further along," Pindaros told her. "About the wolf."

" 'The wolf that howls has wrought you woe!' " Io chanted. " 'To that dog's mistress you must go! Her hearth burns in the room below. I send you to the God Unseen!' "

"That's enough. 'The wolf that howls has wrought you woe, to that dog's mistress you must go, her hearth burns in the room below.' Kalleos, is there a cave at Advent?"

Kalleos shook her head. "I haven't the least idea."

"There must be. I need to borrow Latro for today and tomorrow. May I have him? I'll bring him back to you, I swear."

"I suppose so. Would you mind telling me what's going on?"

Pindaros had bitten into his apple. He chewed and swallowed before answering. "Back in our city, I took an oath to guide Latro to the place mentioned by the prophetess. I thought it meant the oracle at Lebadeia, which is only about two days' journey."

"You consulted the god at the Navel?" Kalleos asked.

Pindaros shook his head. "There's a temple of the Shining God and a prophetess in our city. We never got to Lebadeia, as you can see from our ending up here. But last night Latro said-"

I interrupted. "That we should trust the Shining God if we trusted his oracle."

"Right. Latro, I know you don't remember, but go get your book. Look at the very beginning and tell me where you were wounded. We know about the battle-where on the battlefield."

"I don't have to get it," I told him. "I read it this morning. At the temple of the Earth Mother."

Pindaros heaved a great sigh. "I thought I recalled someone's saying something about that. That clinches it."

"Clinches what?" Hilaeira asked.

"The wolf is one of the badges of the Great Mother," Pindaros told her. "That's why I thought it was the shrine of the Great Mother that was meant-it is in a cave, by the way. But don't you remember what the priest said to us beside the lake? The morning after you and I first met?"

"He explained that the gods have different names to indicate different attributes, and different names in different places, too. Of course, I knew that before."