Rampage!

by Wills, Julia; Hartas, Leo ;

  He felt a tingling in his tail.

  Was Alex finally beginning to wonder about Jason? About what exactly was taking him so long to find them? If indeed, he was even trying?

  ‘Then let’sss s-s-start planning tacticsss!’ hissed Krait, wrapping his coils excitedly around his head and rasping his scales. He peeked out of the tangle of loops. ‘If we do have to go alone, we’re going to need them.’

  ‘Tactics?’ said Alex.

  ‘For the battle ahead, of cours-s-se!’ cried Viper. ‘Didn’t your father teach you anything? The firs-s-st duty of a s-s-soldier isss to know the lie of the land.’

  ‘Vantage pointsss to s-s-spy on the enemy,’ said Adder. ‘Ground cover, s-s-shelter and outcropsss for s-s-surpris-s-se attacksss!’

  ‘And hiding placesss,’ added Grass Snake, shivering on the Gorgon’s brow.

  Huge and round, Hazel’s eyes slid warily from one writhing snake to the next as she nervously reached down into the big pink leather handbag at her feet and pulled something out. ‘In that case, maybe this’ll help?’

  Everyone stared blankly (apart from Cobra, who was now muttering drowsily about grasshoppers).

  ‘It’s a book,’ she explained, handing it to Alex. ‘All about the Amazon. And there’s a map tucked into the back.’

  Alex read the title dismally. ‘Glamazon Gals?’

  Aries shuffled over, and took a single olive from the tray Hazel had ordered from room service, before laying his head on Alex’s shoulder as the boy began flicking through the pages. ‘How to survive the rainforest and remain gorgeous’, ‘The five best heat-resistant lipsticks to wear in the jungle’, ‘Perfumes that do not attract bugs’.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ said Alex.

  ‘Oh, I know,’ said Hazel. ‘Maybe it’s not like, totally ideal for a boy and a ram, but it’ll still tell you what you need to know. The bugs and gigantic spiders, what critter’ll be tryin’ to eat you in the trees, on the path, in the air, under the water ––’

  Aries felt his throat tighten around the olive, gulped it down loudly and looked at the book a second time.

  There were pictures of a river so wide it made Aries think of the sea, and lots of strange-looking animals: a ‘jaguar’, all big and toothy, and rather like the Nemean Lion, except that it was still wearing its golden, black-dotted fur, instead of wobbling around, pink as a blancmange (thanks to Herakles); a craggy-dragon called a caiman; and pigeons, like the ones that were doubtless, at that very moment, decorating his statue with poo, but with dusky pink feathers, the colour of a sunset, not drab and grey. Glancing up at Alex, he saw the surprise on his face. Surprise, and something else: excitement.

  Aries felt a spark of hope. Maybe, just maybe, if Alex read enough and thought enough, he’d feel confident enough for them to leave together? Couldn’t he see, after everything that they’d done in London, that he was brave and smart enough to lead them through the jungle without the ‘help’ of old brawn-for-brains?

  Alex took the map out of the back of the book, unfolded it and spread it out across the low table. Next, he pulled the crumpled page from Persephone’s magazine from his pocket and carefully began comparing the two. Meanwhile, Aries pushed over a few more pages with his muzzle, eager to find out more. The back of the book was devoted to the rainforest’s history: drawings of men cutting into rubber trees;33 men mining for gold; men chopping down the jungle and driving cattle on to it; men wearing strange armour – ‘conquistadors’, the caption said – which was apparently Spanish for old soldiers. Aries snorted. Soldiers? They looked completely mad, dressed up in ballooning trousers and ridged metal hats that drooped with feathers.

  A sudden knock at the door made them both jump and Hazel hurried across the ocean of marble to answer it.

  ‘Miss Praline?’ Aries watched as one of her bodyguards, a thickset man dressed in a black suit and sunglasses stepped into the room. ‘I’m sorry to disturb you, but the receptionist just rang to tell me they’ve something of a fruit loop in reception. A young man, demanding to come up.’

  Beside him, Alex turned and gave him an ‘I told you so!’ look, sending Aries’ hopes diving, like a harpy spotting dinner at the bottom of a cliff, and taking his pipe dream of the two of them setting out as the A-Team34 with it.

  ‘A fan?’ said Hazel curiously.

  ‘No, miss.’ The bodyguard glanced into the room. ‘Actually, he’s come from the police station where these two were held. It’s Alex he wants to talk to.’ The man hesitated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully before he went on. ‘Insists he’s a Greek prince.’

  Jason hadn’t felt less like a Greek prince in his entire life and ghosthood.

  Having spent most of the night slinking through the shadows, he’d used every second since daybreak searching for Alex and Aries, dodging the strange chariots that hooted and smoked as he scurried through the city streets to call at all the police stations, only to arrive at the right one an hour or so after they’d left with some singer, and he had been told to try at the Hotel Esplendido. Everywhere he went, faces froze, eyes gaped and children burst into squeals, horrified by the raging bites that had turned his golden skin fiery red and as bumpy as a monster’s bottom.

  Grunting, he glared at the two burly men now flanking him. Both were sturdy and thick with muscles, built like Cyclopes and with manners to match, and had bustled him into this infernal mirrored box with doors that slid magically shut and then shot upwards, leaving his stomach feeling as though it’d been left on the ground far below. He should have been back in the Underworld by now, he seethed, the guest of honour at Aphrodite’s party. Instead he was raw, sore and absolutely furious that Medea had forced his hand like this, snatching the key and sending him skulking back to the quest he thought he’d so luckily managed to avoid. Worse, far from being worried that he’d been sent from the Underworld to find her, it seemed that she actually wanted to see him. Why else steal his key home?

  Wanted to see him? The curious thought startled him and, feeling an odd little shiver down his spine, he found himself wondering whether she might actually still have feelings for him – the fluffy-wuffy lovebird sort, that is, rather than the scorch-your-pants-off dragon variety – because now that he considered it more calmly, he realised that she hadn’t actually chosen to kill him, had she? She’d simply sent a special calling card that left him with an irresistible reason to come and see her. Was it possible she still loved him? She had done once. Deeply. And weren’t her romantic gestures always a little, well, eccentric? After all, as he now reminded himself, this was the woman whose wedding gift to him had been to chop up his uncle and boil him in a giant pot because he refused to give Jason back the throne, which as presents went, certainly beat a fancy new pair of sandals hands-down.

  Brightening, he lifted his chin and looked at his reflection, turning his head this way and that. With luck, the bites would fade in a few days, leaving him as handsome as the day he strode into her father’s palace on Kolkis.

  A moment later, the lift doors swished open and he looked out to see a short hallway lined with pale wooden doors in place of the grand lobby from where the two men had bustled him in. Stepping out behind them, he followed them to the double doors at the far end and stood impatiently, waiting as the shorter of the two stuck his head inside the room.

  ‘Miss Praline?’

  Shunting him out of the way, filled with fresh purpose, Jason strode into the room only to be instantly yanked back by four hot hands.

  ‘It’s al’ right!’ said a blonde girl dressed in pink jeans and T-shirt, clearly, Jason realised, the Hazel something-or-other the chubby police chief had been so excited about. The men released their grip and he nodded curtly at her, snatched up a jug of fruit juice and drained it noisily.

  On the other side of the room, Alex was watching him, his face a mixture of relief and shock at his appearance. Unlike the ridiculous old windbag sheep, who looked as though he’d swallowed a cattle cake whole. Wiping his mouth with the back
of his hand, Jason set down the jug and scanned the room, marvelling at its sheer size and comfort, at the trays heaped with food, the sofas and twinkling stars of lights, the huge windows.

  ‘So this is where you’ve been relaxing, is it?’

  Alex shook his head, unable to take his eyes off Jason’s swollen face. ‘What happened?’

  ‘Medea happened,’ said Jason.

  He heard Hazel gasp behind him. ‘She’s in Manaus?’

  Jason turned to her and shook his head, instantly regretting it, wincing at the flash of pain. ‘No,’ he replied, ‘just the phantom-woman she sent to trick me last night, one conjured from ants.’

  There was a sudden, wet squirming of asps around Medusa’s face.

  ‘Antsss?’ muttered Cobra, rising up from the others and scenting the air.

  ‘Yummy!’ said Adder.

  Behind him, Krait curled himself into coils and rolled his eyes from side to side. ‘Did you bring any back?’

  Feeling his bites itch at the cheek of such lowly creatures, Jason stomped across the room and booted the shield, sending it clattering – clang – hiss – clonk – wildly over the floor. Watching the snakes whirl dizzily around the Gorgon’s puffed-up face made him feel a little better. At least until it crashed into the wall and Alex, ever the monster’s nanny, rushed after it, carefully lifting it back on to its edge and checking the Gorgon and each of the serpents in turn, pausing to give Adder’s nose a consoling rub.

  ‘Will you put those Worms of Waffle down!’ boomed Jason, throwing his arms in the air. ‘Haven’t we wasted enough time already?’

  The boy stood up, blushing furiously.

  ‘Wasted time!’ snorted Aries, clopping in front of the boy and lifting his horns high in the air. ‘That would be thanks to you and your running away!’

  ‘Running away?’ cried Jason. ‘How dare you? But then, I’d hardly expect a farm animal like you to have the first idea about quests.’ Jason walked up to him, and pushed his face close to the maddening animal’s muzzle. ‘You see, after you’d helpfully ruined our stealthy entrance by making sure that absolutely everybody in the building knew that we’d arrived, I was left to set about our mission alone. It was down to me to find out as much as I could about the place, talk to the locals, rack my brains about how we’re actually going to find Medea.’35 Jason glanced at Hazel as she hurried out of the room. ‘Meaning that whilst you two were safely dozing at the police station ––’

  ‘We weren’t dozing,’ protested Alex.

  Jason continued as if he hadn’t spoken. ‘I was actually in danger.’ He paused, momentarily distracted as Hazel bustled past to set down a small case with a red cross on it on the table in front of him and watched as she clicked open its lid and pulled out a bottle of dark liquid, together with some tufts of spun cotton.

  ‘This will help soothe the bites,’ she said, upending some liquid onto a blob of cotton.

  Sitting down, Jason winced as Hazel began dabbing at his arm. The liquid stung and it smelled revolting.

  ‘Attacked by Medea’s minion!’ he growled. ‘Left in agony! Blinded with pain! Then, forced to scour the streets for you without a single thought for my own welfare.’

  ‘You’re so brave!’ Hazel gazed at him, pink-faced.

  Aries groaned loudly.

  ‘Thanks,’ smiled Jason. ‘Although it was tougher on the Argo.’ He flicked a cool look at Alex and Aries. ‘But now I’m back and ready to deal with Medea.’

  Beyond them, he was glad to see that at least the godly gifts were still safe, piled high on a table by one of the windows. Perched on top, the statue of Nemesis gleamed back at him, its three flashes of light vivid as fireflies skittering inside the black marble.

  Hazel nodded, following his gaze. ‘You and your littl’ ladies of justice?’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Jason, turning back to the girl’s brightly smiling face, certain that she wouldn’t be nearly so cheery if she were to see those littl’ ladies burst out, dog-headed, bat-winged and flinging their scorpion whips in the air. Mind you, he realised with a shudder, neither would he. Curbing a cold wave of panic, he reminded himself of the rosier thoughts he’d had back in the lift. If he were right, and the more he thought about it, the more certain he became, then dealing with Medea wouldn’t be nearly as terrifying as he’d imagined. After all, if his ex-wife really was more swoony than loony, why couldn’t he just flirt and flatter her into handing the key back to him, then hightail it home to the Underworld and leave the wretched statue, all wrapped in a big pink ribbon for her to find when he’d gone? The plan was brilliant. Cheered, he grabbed a handful of olives from the nearby tray and stuffed them into his mouth. Of course, he reflected, eating a few more, it wouldn’t do for Alex and Aries to see quite how easy it was all going to be. But that was simple, too. He’d just insist on going it alone, privately schmooze her with his charm, and then tell them what a terrifying ordeal it had all been, before returning triumphant to the Underworld with an epic new tale to dazzle everyone.

  Now, as Hazel packed away her medicine case, he noticed the crumpled map on the table and poked it with his foot. ‘So, Alex,’ he said, chewing noisily. ‘You’ve had time to study that. What can you tell me?’

  The boy beamed, clearly pleased to be asked, and sat down quickly beside him. Close up, Jason was surprised to see that Alex’s hair was still matted with last night’s dust and his sunburned shoulders were smeared with mud. Despite the luxury around him, Jason realised, the boy had clearly forgotten all about his own comfort since leaving the Underworld.

  ‘This is the north-east Amazon rainforest,’ said Alex.

  Turning his attention to where Alex was pointing, Jason blinked, gulped and looked again. It was as if someone had simply painted the parchment green all over.

  ‘And here,’ continued Alex, actually sounding excited as he pointed at a black spot, which appeared to Jason to be about the size of a flea’s baby and all but invisible in the expanse of jungle, ‘is where Rose is headed. Tatu Village.’

  ‘Tatu Village.’ Jason nodded slowly. ‘The same place as Medea. I see.’

  ‘Tatu means armadillo,’ said Alex.

  ‘Which is what?’ muttered Jason.

  ‘A sort of animal,’ said Hazel. ‘We have heaps of ’em in Texas. Size a-hares but covered with bony plates like dinky suits a-armour. Rose said most likely the jungle round there’d be full of ’em and that’s what gave the village its name.’

  ‘Are they fierce?’ said Aries, choosing that particular moment to thump his great big unwelcome snout over the back of Jason’s seat and, worse, edge it within rammy-dribbling distance of his shoulder.

  ‘Nah,’ smiled Hazel, giving the ram’s ear a tweak. ‘Just fat and smelly.’

  Jason glanced at Aries. ‘So you’ll get on fine,’ he sniped.

  He heard Aries open his mouth, clearly about to retaliate with something extremely irritating, until Alex frowned at him, shaking his head.

  ‘This is where we need to get to,’ said Alex quickly, turning back to the map and tracing his finger along a thin line of blue south-west of the dot. ‘There, where the Rio Negro turns north-east. See?’ Jason nodded and waited for him to go on. ‘Following its tributary, the Rio Trombetas, which according to Hazel is the same route that Rose was going to take by canoe to the village, we can trek through the jungle and arrive in a couple of days. More or less.’

  ‘Hmm,’ said Jason. ‘I suppose that might work.’

  Alex smiled up at him, like a sunflower turning to the sun, and reached into his jeans pocket to pull out the crumpled pages from the magazine Persephone had brought back. Tucking away the picture of Medea with the Amazon Indians, he smoothed out the photographs of the area around the village, pointing to them as he spoke to Jason. ‘According to this, there’s an enormous waterfall a few miles south of the village,’ he tapped the page, ‘and Pico da Nuno, moon mountain, lying to the west. It stands on its own. Luckily, it’s got a really distinctive
shape, dark and humped, so we should be able to spot it easily.’

  Jason nodded, feeling slightly better. Maybe Athena did know what she was talking about in choosing Alex to come with him on this wretched mission. Because not only was Alex keen in the way that most boys of his age would be if they were lucky enough to be travelling on a quest with him, but he was smart too, already having mapped out a route through country of which he’d had absolutely no experience. ‘And where are we now?’

  ‘Here.’ Alex pointed to a spot a long way west of Tatu. Stretching out his palm, he touched the turn in the Rio Negro with his little finger. ‘Hazel said it normally takes about ten days by foot to get there.’

  ‘Ten days?’ groaned Jason.

  Aphrodite’s birthday party burst like a bubble in his mind.

  ‘Normally, I said!’ Hazel clapped her hands. ‘Not this time, though, ’cause I’m going to hire y’all a plane. Fly you a lot closer to Tatu.’

  Seeing Jason’s puzzled face, Hazel threw her arms out straight on either side of her body and tilted to and fro.

  ‘It’s like a big metal bird that flies in the sky!’ She frowned, dropping her arms to her sides. ‘Course,’ she sighed. ‘I should-a flown Rose straight there too. But I was so dumb keen for us to have a vacation.’

  Alex stood up and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. ‘It’s probably just as well you didn’t,’ he said gently. ‘Because you’d only have flown her faster into Medea’s trap.’

  The girl brightened. ‘I can get y’all the stuff you’ll need, too,’ she said, turning back to Jason. ‘Hammocks, nets against the bugs, things to make the water clean to drink, GPS to find your way.’

  Rising to his feet, Jason looked out of the windows at the grey sky faintly pocked with stars, feeling a lot more heartened. ‘When will all that be ready?’

  ‘Tomorrow,’ said Hazel, pulling what appeared to be a wafer of metal from her pocket and starting to tap the front of it. ‘First thing.’ Turning away, she held the metal box to her ear and began talking into it.