An Unearthing of Goddesses

An Unearthing of Goddesses Part 19

The feeling of quitting her job still buzzing through her body like a shot of ambrosia, Kate joined Dona to step through the spice cabinet. Walking through the doors, she found herself in an enormous market. Dona put her hand out just in time to spare Kate being run down by a herd of goats. They gleefully pranced by as the goddess took Kate's arm.

"Stay close," she said, winking. "The market of Andalux is immense."

"Where are we?" Kate squinted into the sun.

"You know – I'm not actually sure." She wet her finger and held it up. "I think maybe we're in the Southern Hemisphere. Definitely a desert, it's very arid."

"How do you not know where the market is? Have you never been here before?" Kate looked around in wonder. The smells were what she first noticed – from savory to sweet, bitter to sour. The scents of spicy street foods wafted past her nose, delectable bakery aromas, heady perfumes, leather and sawdust, sparking metal from forges, smoky cooking fires, fresh flowers and fresh dung. An array of pungent animal smells mixed in, with human smells and what could only be described as creature smells...

Aurae laughed. "Oh yes, darling, I've been here many times. But it shifts you see. Never in the same place twice. Sometimes it's on a mountaintop, sometimes it's deep in a cave. One time it was floating on the ocean, on an array of boats, another, in the treetops of the rainforest. That was divine, yet a bit damp... Once they tried the moon, but the merchandise kept floating away – we really needed gravity."

They strolled along a labyrinthine path that twisted through market stalls, shopfronts and pushcarts full of, well, everything. Kate picked up a helmet that looked like a spartan warrior had worn millennia before.

Dona got out the list. "We need the orchards. Boy!" She whistled and a youth bicycled up to them on a three-wheeled trike with a seat behind.

They mounted the trike and proceeded to be chauffeured through countless twists and turns until they reached the food market. And here again there was – everything. Before they got off, Dona turned to their driver.

"Say, where are we? Desert, right?"

He nodded. "Atacama. In Peru – Andes mountains."

She snapped her fingers. "Knew it! The air is thin up here. Now, let's go find that damn cinnamon."

The first thing they found was the lemons. Or rather – a grove of lemon trees. They picked a satisfactory amount for Dona's basket and proceeded to an almond grove, where they used a long-armed device to pull the almonds off the branches, rather like giving the tree a hair brushing.

"This is a bit more hands-on than I was expecting," Kate said, rubbing a newly formed blister. "Don't they have any ingredients already consumer ready?"

"Not at the Andalux. Only the freshest items are available," Dona replied.

And they did not pay with money. Everyone bartered, whether with merchandise, toil or talent. Kate saw a range of exchanges, from splitting wood to a beautiful song, a favorite locket slipped off a chain, to a treasured family recipe. Dona dealt entirely with ambrosia.

"Edibles," she said, holding up small sacks of what looked like golden gummy bears. The quail eggs they gathered themselves from an aviary they climbed up several flights to reach, and the cream was milked directly from lovely little gazelle creatures resembling their own visitors in the liminal meadows, with flowered antlers and silver-dotted hides. They crossed a sandy stretch to reach the beehives, abuzz with activity. Wearing netted hats and holding smokers, they lulled the bees to sleep as they extracted their treasure of honey.

"What is Hera going to do with all these things anyway?" Kate asked as they dripped honey into a crockery pot.

"She's writing a cookbook. It's her latest hobby. I believe she is baking a cake this month."