Page 122 - Blue Feather Book 2

for help because everything happened so quickly that no mere mortal could really witness it. There had been only one witness, a god who was watching from the sky.
When Persephone did not return to her mother that evening, Demeter grew concerned. It was not like her daughter to come home late. Demeter began to search for Persephone. She asked everyone she could if they had seen Persephone, but no one could help her. Finally, Demeter appealed to Hekate, the goddess of magic. “From your position high in the sky, Hekate, perhaps you have seen my Persephone.”
Sadly, Hekate had not seen the girl. She suggested that Demeter talked to Helios, the god of the sun, and asked him. Demeter approached Helios, who was about to embark on his daily journey across the sky. “Oh mighty Helios, please help me. My daughter is missing and I am disconsolate without her.” Helios calmed down the high-strung horses that were eager to pull his chariot away and listened to Demeter’s pleas.
“I have seen your daughter Demeter. She has been abducted by Hades. He drove her in his carriage to the dark world beneath this one, where he wishes for her to sit next to him on his throne.”
Demeter was heartbroken. She knew that the mighty god Zeus was aware of Hades’ actions and yet had done nothing to stop him. This angered her so much that she refused to go back to Olympus with the other gods when Zeus requested it. She refused to bless the crops and promote a good harvest. She was only interested in finding Persephone.
Demeter wandered aimlessly through town after town, lost in her pain and suffering for her loss. Slowly the crops began to die, the weather began to grow colder and nothing was growing anymore.
One day when she was tired of wandering, she sat near a well and closed her eyes to rest. A local girl from the village saw Demeter by the well but did not recognize the powerful goddess, she only saw a sad, tired woman who needed help.
Persephone: The Story of Spring 119