Cassandra the Lucky

by Joan Holub

  Apollo tossed a giggling little mortal girl onto the back of his raven. Dionysus chatted with a boy who’d hopped onto his leopard’s back. Artemis handed the reins to an elderly woman who’d come to sit in her deer-and-chariot ride. All the MOA students seemed eager to help young and old alike take pleasure in what they’d made.

  How nice, thought Cassandra. And how cool that the immortals had decided that the carousel would remain in the marketplace forever for all to enjoy!

  Just then an excited little mortal boy came up to Athena. “I’ve been waiting and waiting to ride your horse,” he said in a rush. After sticking his foot into the stirrup, he flung himself onto its saddle. Then he waved to someone in the crowd. “Look at me, Mommy!”

  “I’m next on the horse!” called another boy from the sidelines.

  “Then me!” called a girl.

  Athena sent Cassandra a questioning look, silently asking if she wanted her to tell the kids they couldn’t have their ride. She appeared ready to remove the horse if that’s what Cassandra wanted.

  So what did  she want?

  Suddenly the carousel started moving, making the decision for her. Zeus had flipped the switch in the ticket booth to turn it on. Athena hopped off the platform just in time as the carousel began to whirl around in a flash of mirrors, jewels, and colors. Shouts of delight rose up from every rider.

  Cassandra’s lips curved, and she shook her head. “They’re having too much fun. I couldn’t ruin that. It’s enough to know you were willing to remove the horse for the sake of my feelings. That you didn’t create it just to—”

  “Hurt you? I didn’t,” Athena said earnestly. “Honest.”

  Cassandra smiled even wider at her, feeling somehow lighter and freer as her long-held resentment against this girl slid away for good. “I believe you.”

  A few seconds later Homer called to Cassandra from the main door of the scrollbook shop. His publicist was roaming the atrium, trying to beckon shoppers inside to buy copies of The Iliad. So far no one was really paying attention to him. With a wave Cassandra dashed off. “Duty calls,” she shouted back to Athena, who grinned and waved in return.

  “Where are the cookies?” Homer demanded the moment Cassandra reached him.

  “I’ll get them,” she promised as they stepped inside. A peek around the scrollbook store showed a large, neat stack of scrollbooks tied with blue ribbons on the long table—the published copies of his Iliad. But no one was yet in line to buy one. And Homer looked super-nervous about that fact.

  She dashed through the archway opening and over to the cookie counter in the bakery, where she grabbed the big basket of blue fortune cookies Andromache had made for the event. Laodice and Helenus were so busy doing brisk cookie sales that they didn’t even notice her. Their mom was fielding reporters from Greekly Weekly News and Teen Scrollazine, a big smile on her face. “Be sure to get the store sign in your sketches,” she called out to the artists covering the event. She was so great at promoting the store!

  Why . . . her mom was totally happy here! Cassandra realized. So were Laodice and Helenus. None of them wanted to return to war-torn Troy. Did she still want to? For the first time she wasn’t sure.

  “I haven’t sold a single copy,” Homer whispered to her a minute later as they both sat at the table piled high with Iliad scrollbooks.

  He looked really rattled. Was he concerned that he wouldn’t sell any? “Don’t worry,” Cassandra told him kindly. “I predict that your book signing will be a success.”

  However, she was disturbed at the peppermint-scented prophecy that actually came into her mind. A sheep with cosmetics on its face will run wild? Maybe this image had only sprung into her head because of Odysseus’s sheep-riding adventure on the island with the Cyclops, which everyone was still talking about. She ignored it as best she could.

  “Here come some people,” she told Homer as a group entered the scrollbook shop and approached the table.

  He smiled hopefully at them.

  “Excuse me. Where’s the bathroom?” the first man asked.

  Homer’s face fell.

  As Cassandra directed the man to the nearest bathroom, a woman walked over to Homer, gazing at the scrollbooks. “Hi. Are you an author?” she asked.

  “Yes!” said Homer, brightening.

  “Did you write that play Electra? It was sooo good!”

  “No, that’s by Euripides. I wrote The Iliad.”

  The woman frowned. “The Silly Ad?” Her face lit up again. “Haven’t heard of it. But I love silly scrollbooks almost as much as tragedies. I’ll take two copies.”

  After the woman left, Cassandra and Homer looked at each other.

  “Cha-ching! My first sale!” said Homer, punching his fist in the air. “I’m a real author!”

  And suddenly dozens of people were lining up to buy a copy of The Iliad, just as she’d foreseen would happen, over a week ago.

  Most of the customers gushed over the excerpts they’d read of the scrollbook in Teen Scrollazine or the Greekly Weekly News, which thrilled Homer to no end. He sat up straighter in his chair and seemed to slowly regain his usual cocky confidence. Odysseus was a hot topic, and many of those waiting for autographs were clamoring for news of the sequel as rumors about Athena’s hero’s exciting adventures circulated. Everyone who came up to get a signed copy of the scrollbook wanted to know how Odysseus’s final homecoming in Ithaca would turn out.

  “You’ll have to read The Odyssey after it’s published,” Homer would say mysteriously. Then Cassandra would take their payment and give them one of the blue Oracle-O cookies.

  Every time someone opened a cookie, it said, “You are going to love The Iliad.” There were prizes in some of the cookies too, with a few people winning free scrollbooks from the shop.

  One hour later the bookstore’s copies of The Iliad were sold out! A thrilled-looking Homer was ushered off by his publicist to be interviewed a final time by the reporters.

  Cassandra breathed a big sigh of relief and sat back in her chair, feeling happy with the way the signing had gone.

  “The ultimate embarrassment payback is underway,” a voice whispered from behind her.

  Startled, she turned to see Andromache peeking out from one of the scrollbook shelves.

  Cassandra leaped up and pulled Andromache aside. “About that,” she told her friend. “Now that I’ve gotten to know a few of these immortals, I just don’t feel the same way I used to about them. They were easy to dislike when we didn’t know them, but now—”

  “So, what are you saying?” Andromache interrupted.

  Taking a deep breath, Cassandra said, “That I’ve decided to forget about payback. I’m tired of being mad. Because it only makes me, well, madder.”

  Andromache’s eyes went wide. “I wish I’d known that earlier. I only did what I did for you!” she blurted.

  “For me? What did you do?” Cassandra asked, feeling confused.

  “Not just for you, I guess,” Andromache admitted. “For me, too.”

  “C’mon, spill. What did you do?” Cassandra demanded, her stomach sinking.

  “Well, remember those lemon fortunes you wrote on that polka-dot papyrus last Saturday in the bakery? The ones we laughed about?”

  Cassandra nodded.

  “I sort of did something with them,” said Andromache.

  “Oh no! You didn’t give them to Homer to put on the game board, did you?” Cassandra guessed in horror.

  “Um, no. But I—” Andromache began. But before she could go on, they heard strange sounds in the atrium. Animal sounds, people shrieking in surprise, and really weird laughter.

  “Uh-oh,” Andromache muttered in a guilty tone.

  As they ran out the bookshop door to see what was going on, Athena’s carousel horse galloped past, its mane flying. It was laughing! Pan’s sheep dashed by and went into Cleo’s Cosmetics. Meanwhile, Dionysus’s leopard was batting playfully at the ends of the garlands Persephone had hung up.


  The carousel rides had come alive. And gone wild! They still looked like fanciful carousel animals, not real ones. Yet they were running amok through the marketplace, rambunctiously zooming here and there and getting into mischief. Immortals and mortals alike were chasing them down, trying to corral them.

  “Why is this happening?” asked Cassandra, shocked.

  “It’s my fault,” whispered Andromache. “I took the lemon fortunes you wrote and passed them out to the immortals they were meant for a few minutes ago. I thought that embarrassing them would make us both feel better.”

  Cassandra could only watch in dismay as, one by one, her fortunes came true, starting with Pan’s sheep. It ran out of Cleo’s Cosmetics with lip gloss around its mouth. Aphrodite was hot on its trail.

  “It nibbled all of Cleo’s lip glosses to stubs!” Aphrodite informed the crowd. “Seemed to like the green ones best. Maybe they looked like grass?” She had gotten smeared with lip gloss herself while trying to chase the sheep. She looked like she was wearing clown makeup!

  “ ‘Aphrodite will be embarrassed by really baaad makeup,’ ” Cassandra murmured to herself. That was one of the fortunes she’d written last Saturday!

  “We have to help capture the animals!” she said firmly. Andromache nodded and the two girls dashed off to help.

  Crash! Before they could accomplish anything, Athena’s horse ran smack into a wall and splintered into a dozen pieces.

  Cassandra groaned, recalling what she’d written. Athena’s horse will crack itself up. And then she saw Apollo standing there, looking shocked. He was moving his lips, but no words were coming out. “ ‘Apollo will stand speechless in the middle of chaos.’ ” she murmured.

  “I’m so sorry!” moaned Andromache, overhearing.

  Cassandra gave her hand a squeeze. “It’s my fault too. I shouldn’t have written those lemon predictions.” Of course, if Andromache hadn’t given them to the immortals, they wouldn’t have come true. So they shared the blame for what had happened.

  Eventually the goddessgirls and godboys began casting spells to corral the carousel animals. One by one the animals voluntarily returned to their perches on the carousel and posed, still again. Soon everything was calm. It was almost as if the rampage had never occurred. Except for the splotches of lip gloss that remained around the sheep’s mouth, and the missing spot where Athena’s horse used to be. And, of course, the entire Immortal Marketplace was a mess!

  Cassandra turned to see her mom, Zeus, and Hera standing beside her. She didn’t want to, but she was going to have to take responsibility for this. Even if Andromache had been the one to distribute the fortunes, she’d been the one to write them. But before she could open her mouth, Zeus spread his muscled arms wide.

  “Genius!” he boomed. “This was the best finale to the best event I’ve ever come up with!” He turned to Hera. “I think you should let me help plan your weddings from now on. They’d be much more exciting, don’t you think, sugarplum?”

  “They certainly would be,” Hera said judiciously.

  As it turned out, no one guessed that the mess had anything to do with Cassandra or her predictions. Instead, everyone chalked up the animals going berserk to everything from a publicity stunt by Homer’s publicist to Zeus unleashing some magic that had gone a little out of control. Though the reasons varied wildly, people thought the resulting chaos was just part of the overall event. And the reporters had gotten it all down for the news.

  Right away, immortals and mortals began working side by side to clean up the Immortal Marketplace. There was much giggling and even gasps of delight as immortals performed amazing feats of magic.

  Over by the pile of bits that had been her horse, Athena began to twirl in a slow circle, chanting:

  “Pieces join. Horse uncrack.

  Then to the carousel, trot on back!”

  At her command, the pieces of her carousel horse rose into the air alongside her and whirled like a small tornado, faster and faster. Snap! All at once, they reattached themselves perfectly to form her horse exactly as it was before. It trotted obediently to the carousel, taking its place there once again.

  In Cleo’s Cosmetics, Aphrodite gracefully raised both arms and gestured around the store, saying:

  “Lip gloss, powder, eye shadow, too,

  Be as you were, all cute and new.”

  Instantly makeup mirrors un-cracked, and lip gloss stubs reshaped themselves to become new again. Eye shadow and face powder puffed from the counters into the air and then back into their original containers.

  Over in Mighty Fighty, Apollo regained his voice and did an unspell:

  “Shields flatten.

  Spears unbend.

  Bring this destruction

  To an end!”

  Even as his words were dying away, dents smoothed out of shields. Spears that had been bent by wild carousel animals straightened themselves. Suits of armor creaked back into their original shapes.

  In no time, all was back to normal and the Marketplace was sparkling clean! As Cassandra looked around the IM at everyone happily chatting together, she realized that this was her home now. And that the people here—both mortal and immortal—were actually pretty nice. Just look how everyone had pitched in to help! She could make friends here if she tried. . . .

  Cassandra’s eyes lit on Athena, who was heading her way. “Can you come back to MOA with me?” Athena asked when she reached her. “I have to get Odysseus home fast, and I think you could help guide me in that.” She must’ve seen the doubt in Cassandra’s eyes because she quickly added, “Apollo has faith in your predictions and that’s good enough for me.”

  Cassandra’s heart lifted. The mortals nearby who had overheard caught their breath. It was a great honor to be invited to Mount Olympus Academy. And even sweeter, it was because of her fortune-telling talents!

  “Yes! I’d love to come!” she told Athena.

  10

  Reverse the Curse

  Cassandra

  THE WIND WHISTLED IN CASSANDRA’S ears and whipped her fire-gold hair as she, Athena, and Aphrodite winged their way toward Mount Olympus Academy after the author event.

  Athena had purchased magic sandals for Cassandra in Magical Wagical before they’d left the IM. Although the sandals normally didn’t work for mortals, the wings on Cassandra’s sandals began to flap as soon as Athena and Aphrodite stood on either side of her and grasped her hands.

  As they whooshed past boulders and trees, Cassandra turned her head this way and that. “This is the most amazing way to travel ever!” she exclaimed, marveling at the sights below and the speed at which they flew.

  Hermes’ delivery chariot was flying right behind them, carrying Homer, who was bouncing here and there among a bunch of letters and packages also bound for MOA. And all around them were other immortals traveling homeward in the same direction.

  Cassandra spotted Apollo, and he waved to her from the back of Artemis’s chariot, where he sat with Poseidon, Ares, Hades, and Persephone. Cassandra couldn’t wave back since she had to hold the goddessgirls’ hands to remain aloft, so she sent him a big smile instead. Artemis noticed and for some reason frowned at her for doing that.

  But Cassandra didn’t have time to wonder why, because the most awesome sight of all appeared right then, as they neared the end of their trip. It was the majestic Academy itself! Though she’d seen it before when she’d come for Zeus and Hera’s wedding, it was a sight that never failed to thrill. It gleamed in the afternoon sunlight atop the highest mountain in Greece. Built of polished white stone, it was five stories tall and surrounded on all sides by dozens of Ionic columns. Low-relief friezes showing dramatic figures of immortals had been chiseled from marble just below the building’s peaked rooftop.

  She and her two goddessgirl companions went lower and touched down minutes later, skidding to a stop in the courtyard. After loosening the straps at their ankles, Athena and Aphrodite looped them over the silver wings to hold th
em in place so the girls could walk at a normal speed. Of course, Cassandra didn’t have to do anything. Her wings stopped flapping the moment her two immortal companions released her hands.

  “We’ll go straight to the Hero-ology classroom, okay?” Athena said. She seemed a little stressed out. But who wouldn’t be, with the fate of a hero in their hands! She and Aphrodite led Cassandra up the front granite stairs and into the Academy, then down a long hall.

  Cassandra had forgotten just how beautiful MOA was! Shiny marble tile floors. Golden fountains. A domed ceiling covered with paintings depicting the awe-inspiring feats of the gods and goddesses. One scene showed them battling giants that were storming Mount Olympus carrying torches and spears. Another showed Zeus driving a chariot pulled by four white horses across the sky as he hurled thunderbolts into the clouds.

  Soon the girls entered a classroom. Homer, Poseidon, Artemis, Apollo, and some of the other immortals who’d come from the IM followed them inside. They all went over to a three-dimensional map that completely covered a big table in the center of the room. As they gathered around to study it, Cassandra realized that this must be the game board she’d heard so much about.

  Athena pointed at the statue of Odysseus. He was still wandering around in Ithaca. “My hero hasn’t moved much since your last prophecy in the contest,” she said, relieved. Then she pointed to a ship in the harbor off the coast. “The friendly sailors on that ship are the ones that gave my hero a ride home. I should thank them by helping them in some way.”

  But as she paused to think of a proper “thank-you,” the turquoise-eyed Poseidon aimed the pointy end of his trident at the little ship and muttered some magic. The ship turned into a rock!

  “That’s for helping Odysseus,” Poseidon told the sailors.

  Athena and Aphrodite whirled around, their eyes flashing at him. “That was just plain mean!” said Athena.

  Poseidon smirked. “The better to help my grade!”

  Cassandra watched all this in amazement. So this was how the immortals guided the fortunes of mortals? According to their whims? It all seemed so random. But then that was kind of how life was, she supposed.