The Helicon Muses Omnibus: Books 1-4

by V. J. Chambers

  Sawyer chuckled. “As do you. Darling.”

  Nora surveyed Sawyer. No one would really mistake him for a girl. His jaw was too firm, his hands too large, and there was something in the way he carried himself. He didn’t move like a man, but he didn’t move like a girl either. There was a graceful elegance to him, but there was also a square-shouldered pride. It seemed to transcend gender, or perhaps to encompass both genders, combining aspects of both male and female. Sawyer didn’t look like a man dressed up as a woman. He didn’t resemble a mannish female either. He looked sleek, in a class by himself, and somehow... a little sexy. “Jack’s an idiot.”

  “What about Agler? Didn’t he ask you to the dance?”

  Actually, Nora had been avoiding Agler ever since they made out in his tent. Well, maybe not exactly avoiding him. She simply hadn’t been any of the places that he was. If he was telling the truth about being okay with the two of them being friends that sometimes kissed then that shouldn’t be a problem, should it? She shrugged. “I haven’t seen him.”

  “Relationships are complicated, even if you don’t really have them.”

  Nora laughed. She opened her mouth to speak, but she noticed that Jack was winding his way around a sculpture and heading straight for them. She touched Sawyer on the arm and pointed. “There’s your relationship coming this way.”

  Sawyer stood up to intercept Jack.

  Jack looked Sawyer up and down, taking in the dress. Then his gaze lingered on Sawyer’s face. “You look amazing,” he whispered.

  Sawyer ducked his head down, suddenly shy.

  “Want to dance?” Jack held out his hand.

  Sawyer took it, and the two disappeared into the throng of dancers.

  Nora smiled. Clearly, Jack hadn’t been as freaked out as Sawyer thought.

  CHAPTER THREE

  By February, breakfast was much more crowded than it had been in January. Before, Nora, Sawyer, and Maddie could fit at one of the small round tables in the front corner of the food enclave dining room. Now, they had to eat at one of the long rectangular picnic-table style ones, because their numbers had doubled. Daryl ate with Maddie, and Jack ate with Sawyer. And Agler, since he was Jack’s best friend, ate with them too, even though Nora thought it made the whole thing confusing. She had been explicitly clear about the fact she wasn’t dating Agler. Agler knew that. But more and more, it felt like being friends that kissed really wasn’t that much different than being boyfriend and girlfriend.

  She and Agler ate breakfast together every day. During the day time, they didn’t spend much time together, both wandering off to different enclaves, but then they all met up at the main fire pit for dinner, and they usually stayed for the council meeting. Sometimes, they stayed at the fire pit for the nightly drum circle. Sometimes, they went back to the tweens and rebels enclave. But she spent a lot of time with Agler. She liked spending time with Agler. She guessed it wasn’t so bad. And it wasn’t as if she had much of anything else to do, considering that Sawyer and Maddie were both busy with their respective boyfriends. Nora wasn’t complaining. But she was a little worried. Maybe Agler was going to think things meant more than they did.

  Agler was a nice guy, but Nora knew that people tended to get sort of territorial about people they were intimate with. He wouldn’t mean to be pushy, but at some point, he’d expect something from her that she wasn’t willing to give him. Then he’d get angry with her. And Nora didn’t think she could handle that kind of anger. She’d rather die than have someone tell her what to do again. She’d had enough of that to last a lifetime when she’d been with Owen.

  That morning, only a few days before Valentine’s Day, Nora sat between Agler and Sawyer, spearing sliced melons with her fork. Maddie and Daryl faced her, and Jack was on the other side of Sawyer.

  “So my mother tried to get me to help out in the babies and toddlers enclave for Valentine’s Day again,” said Maddie, “but I told her I had a date.” She was pretty happy about that, Nora could tell. Maddie’s mother was always volunteering Maddie for certain tasks because she didn’t think her daughter had anything else to do. She also tried to get Maddie back into the food enclave, but Maddie wanted to dance, and her mother was in denial about it.

  “Good for you,” said Nora. “But who’s going to babysit the kids?”

  Maddie shrugged. “Not my problem.”

  “Oh, we should do it,” Sawyer said to Jack. “Maddie and I had so much fun last year.”

  Jack raised his eyebrows. “You and me? With kids?”

  “Yeah, come on, it’ll be fun.” Sawyer grinned. “You can show them that nifty necklace you have.”

  “What? This one?” Jack drew out a plaited twine necklace from inside his shirt. He furrowed his brow in shock. “Where’d the stone go?”

  Sawyer leaned forward to look. “It’s gone.”

  Jack stood up immediately, stepping over the bench and staring at the ground. He turned in a circle, and then bent over to peer underneath the table. “When was the last time you saw it?” he asked Sawyer.

  Sawyer looked blank. “I’m not sure.”

  By this time, everyone at the table was watching Jack.

  “What’d you lose?” Maddie asked.

  Jack got down on his hands and knees, crawling under the table. His voice was muffled. “A stone my grandparents gave me. It must have broken and fallen off.”

  “It was really cool,” said Sawyer. “It came from the edge of Helicon.”

  Jack sat back up, looking sad. “My grandma said that my grandpa got it for her by climbing down over the ledge and getting it for her. I don’t know what happened to it.”

  “Maybe it’s in your tent,” said Sawyer. “We’ll look after breakfast.”

  “Maybe,” said Jack. He half-heartedly took a stab at his breakfast with a fork.

  “I’m sorry, Jack,” said Nora.

  “Me too,” said Agler, “I really liked that stone.”

  Jack shrugged. “I’ll look in my tent when I’m done eating.”

  “Do you want me to talk to my mom?” Maddie asked. “About watching the kids, I mean?”

  Sawyer eyed Jack. “We’ll decide later.”

  “Are you going to be helping people make Valentines today, Nora?” said Maddie. “In the visual arts enclave?”

  “Yup,” said Nora. “All week. We’ve got good stuff too. You should all check it out. I’ll help you find whatever it is you need to make an awesome Valentine.”

  “Except me,” said Agler, “because I don’t want you to see what I’m making for you before Valentine’s Day.”

  Agler was making her a Valentine? Well, Nora guessed that she was making them for all her friends, and she and Agler were friends, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Not really. Still, this meant she was going to have to make something for Agler, which she hadn’t planned on doing. And what kind of Valentine did you make for someone who was a friend that you kissed, anyway? She smiled at him. “Except you.”

  “I totally need your help today, Nora,” said Maddie. She pointed at Daryl. “So that means you stay away.”

  After breakfast, Maddie and Nora went to the visual arts enclave. As she was leaving, Agler called after her, “See you at dinner tonight.”

  Nora heaved a huge sigh.

  “What?” asked Maddie, as they walked away.

  “He thinks we’re, like, together,” said Nora.

  “Aren’t you?”

  “No!”

  Maddie was taken aback by the force of Nora’s response. “But you guys spend so much time together.”

  Nora quickened her pace. “He said no strings, but he’s attached.”

  Maddie hurried to keep up. “What’s wrong with attached? I’m attached to Daryl.”

  “Nothing’s wrong with it. Not for you guys, anyway. But I don’t want that kind of responsibility.”

  “You make it sound like a chore. Don’t you like Agler?”

  “Sure I do.”

  Maddie looked c
onfused. “Do you only like him as a friend or something? Because I could swear you guys have been running off to kiss all the time.”

  Nora wasn’t sure how to explain. “I just don’t want us to feel like we owe each other anything. Because then, at some point, I’ll disappoint him, and he’ll be angry with me. This way, it’s not my fault.”

  Maddie made a face, as if she didn’t quite understand Nora’s logic. But she didn’t say anything, and they walked in silence for a while. As they approached the visual arts enclave, she put her hand on Nora’s arm. “Agler’s not Owen, you know.”

  Nora pulled away. “I know that. Of course I know that.”

  * * *

  Maddie had very specific ideas for what she wanted for Daryl’s Valentine, which meant that Nora spent her morning running around trying to find materials for her. She barely had time to think of what she might make for Agler.

  By lunchtime, Maddie had finished making her Valentine, but Nora convinced her to stay in the visual arts enclave for lunch. They grabbed some sandwiches from a cooler the visual art muses kept in the enclave (in case they were so inspired they didn’t want to go to the food enclave to eat) and sat down in the funky iron-wrought chairs that were set up around the fire pit. They had barely begun to eat when they heard a strange squawking-bleating sound. They looked up to see Mack leading a half-llama, half-ostrich into the enclave. Sawyer followed him also leading a mix-matched animal. One was llama on top and ostrich on bottom. One was ostrich on top and llama on bottom.

  Mack made chimeras, like Nora’s pet Catling. All his animals were oddly mixed together combinations. Upon seeing Nora, Mack let go of the chimera and waved to her. “Ho there, Nora! How’s your little cat-duck?”

  Nora waved back. “Catling is doing well. What brings you to the visual arts enclave?”

  “Bringing these llama-ostriches here to pose for someone to paint.” Mack gestured to Sawyer. “Sawyer here offered to help me.”

  Sawyer patted the chimera he was standing next to. “I was headed up here to work on a Valentine anyway, so I thought I’d lend Mack a hand.”

  Mack patted one of the chimeras on the nose and came over to where the girls were sitting. “Might make a Valentine myself while I’m here. Usually pick up the premade ones, but I’ve got the afternoon free, and it might be fun.”

  “You should,” said Nora. “We haven’t even started on the premade ones yet, anyway.” The visual art enclave made generic Valentines for muses who weren’t visually inclined, but they usually didn’t get to them until the last minute.

  “You can just leave Daisy there,” Mack called over his shoulder to Sawyer. “She won’t run off.”

  Sawyer left the chimera and came over to join them. “Jack’s really upset about the stone he lost. We looked all over and couldn’t find it. The best Valentine I could make for him would be to find that stone.”

  “That’s too bad he couldn’t find it,” said Maddie. “It came from some cave at the edge of Helicon, right?”

  Mack raised his eyebrows. “An inspiration stone?”

  Sawyer looked at Maddie and Nora. They all shrugged. “What’s that?”

  “The council funnels inspiration threads through a cave at the edge of Helicon.” Mack pointed south. “If you follow the stream all the way it makes a big waterfall over the edge. The cave is behind the waterfall. Back years ago, tweens used to go down into that cave and bring back rocks from inside. Then one day someone fell. That pretty much put an end to it.”

  Sawyer looked excited. “Were the stones all black and shiny?”

  Mack nodded. “Sure were. Never went down into the cave myself, but I remember seeing a lot of those stones around years ago. People liked to put them on necklaces.”

  “Yeah, Jack’s was on a necklace.” Sawyer turned to Maddie and Nora. “This means even if I can’t find it, it doesn’t matter. I can get Jack another stone.”

  “Oh no,” said Mack. “Didn’t you hear what I said? It’s dangerous. A muse died trying to get those stones. The council has forbidden anyone to go down there ever again.”

  Maddie made a sympathetic face at Jack. “Sorry. But I’m sure he’d appreciate just knowing you wanted to risk your life to get him another stone.”

  “How many people went down there safely? It can’t be that dangerous,” said Sawyer.

  “Promise me you’ll stay away from the edge,” said Mack. “I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you kids because of something I said.”

  Sawyer sank down in a chair next to Nora, looking defeated.

  “We promise,” said Maddie.

  “Good,” said Mack. He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. The two llama-ostriches scurried over to him. “Better get these guys over to the person who asked for them.”

  The three said goodbye to Mack and watched him disappear into one of the tents along with the chimeras. When he was out of earshot, Sawyer jumped back up to his feet.

  “We’ll go during dinner,” he said. “Everybody will be busy then. No one will even notice we’re gone.”

  “Are you crazy?” said Maddie. “Didn’t you hear what Mack said?”

  “Yes, I’m crazy, and yes, I heard what Mack said,” said Sawyer. “We’re still going.”

  “I promised him we wouldn’t!” Maddie turned to Nora. “Back me up here.”

  Nora chewed on her lip. “It does sound dangerous, Sawyer.”

  “Oh, come on. Mack said they funneled inspiration threads through there. Doesn’t that sound cool? Don’t you want to see that?”

  Nora had to admit that the minute Mack had described a waterfall rushing over the edge of Helicon, she’d pictured it in her head. She did kind of want to know what it looked like. “Maybe if we went down there to investigate...”

  Maddie’s jaw dropped. “Nora, I promised Mack.”

  “Well, what if we just walked down there and looked? If it looks too dangerous, then we won’t try to climb down.”

  “Exactly,” said Sawyer. “We can check it out.”

  Maddie heaved a huge sigh. “You guys are going to get us killed. And when you do, I’m going to be yelling, ‘I told you so,’ as we’re falling off the edge of the world.”

  Nora couldn’t help but snicker.

  * * *

  Nora had been to the edge of Helicon in the north. There the grass simply broke off into jagged rocks and all there was of Helicon was a straight cliff down into nothingness. Here, in the south, it was much the same. However, because the stream ended here, the water rushed over the edge, as if Helicon were a massive table. Nora, Sawyer, and Maddie stood at the edge staring down at the frothy white water. It tumbled over jutting rocks, glowing blue-green in the late afternoon light. Eventually, the water was obscured by white clouds hundreds of feet below them. In the spaces between the clouds, they could see blue sky which faded in the distance to midnight darkness. Gazing down at it was dizzying. Nora took a step back to regain her balance.

  Sawyer pointed. “There. Those look like steps.”

  Nora peered over his shoulder. “Those rocks?”

  “They look slippery,” said Maddie.

  It did seem as if someone had carved out shallow steps that led underneath the waterfall. There was even a fraying rope attached to the cliff face, a makeshift railing. It looked as if, clutching the rope, people could walk single file down the stairs. But it looked scary. Nora looked from the steps to the infinite fall. Was it safe enough?

  “That’s what the rope is for,” said Sawyer. “If we hold on, I’m sure we’ll be fine. I’ll go first.”

  Nora caught Sawyer by the shoulder. “Wait. How do we even know if that rope is still strong enough? It could break.”

  Sawyer carefully eased himself down onto the first step, holding onto the cliff for balance. When his feet were firmly on rock, he reached for the rope and gave it a tug. He grinned up at them. “Seems pretty sturdy.”

  Maddie shook her head. “We’re all going to die.”

&n
bsp; “Stay up there if you want,” said Sawyer. “You can be the lookout.”

  “Oh no,” said Maddie. “I’m not staying up here by myself and watching the both of you fall to your death. If we’re dying, we’re all dying together!”

  Nora laughed. “Well okay then. You go after Sawyer. I’ll bring up the rear.”

  Cautiously, Maddie did the same thing as Sawyer had, backing down onto the first step. Once there, she sat down on her butt and grasped the rope for dear life. She cast a glance down into the drop off, giggled nervously, and looked up at Nora. “It’s not so bad.”

  Sawyer was already down several of the steps. He looked over his shoulder. “Hurry up, you two.”

  Maddie continued her descent in a sitting position. Nora scrambled down after her, gripping the rope so tightly her fingers hurt. As long as she didn’t look down, it was relatively easy. She made the mistake of stealing a glance downward only once, but the weak, breathless feeling it gave her lingered for several minutes. During this time, she collapsed against the rock face until she could move again.

  Within five minutes, they had all three gotten to the bottom of the steps. The sound of the waterfall was a loud roar. Above them the water arced and splashed, but it descended in front of them like a curtain, leaving a space that they could get through without getting wet. The rocks were more slippery here, however. They had to put their backs up against the cliff and walk sideways to keep from falling.

  As Nora inched her way inside the cavern, she heard Sawyer cry out in surprise. She looked up to see that he had gotten himself tangled in glowing blue-green threads. Steadying herself and moving safely away from the edge, she looked around the cavern. The glowing threads were the only source of light. They reflected against the smooth and glossy surface of the walls, ceiling, and floor of the cave. The threads floated through the air, out of the cave, and eventually joined the waterfall. They were the reason the water looked so blue-green.

  Sawyer jerked back, his eyes shining. “Touch one!”

  Tentatively, Nora put a finger against the thread. A jolt went through her. She was seized by the burning desire to bake a cherry pie. She’d never baked a cherry pie before, but she was suddenly certain she could do it. She knew it would be amazing.