The Girl Games (Goddess Girls)

by Joan Holub

  “Fried? Crunched? Mangled?” Artemis blurted out possible endings for Zeus’s sentence as the others sat mute. But each time, Zeus shook his head. “Killed?” she tried finally.

  “RIGHT-CHOOO-ARRR,” Zeus managed to sneeze-speak. He spread his arms wide. “Now tell me, is that the way we treat guests at MOA?”

  “No,” Athena admitted. “But all’s well that ends well, right? Bellerophon’s fine and the Chimera’s gone.” Having finally found her tongue, she went on to tell him about the similar dreams she and Bellerophon had had. Zeus listened intently.

  “I wonder, Dad. Are you sure you didn’t put the idea of the golden bridle into our heads?” she asked at the end of her story. “You probably knew that Bellerophon could succeed in turning the Chimera away with Pegasus’s help. Right?”

  Artemis caught Athena’s eye and grinned. Athena wasn’t the goddessgirl of wisdom for nothing. Everyone knew that Zeus liked to take credit for good ideas.

  Zeus stroked his bushy red beard as if considering what Athena had said. “I might’ve done that,” he said with a tentative smile. “It sounds like something I might do.” His smile widened. “In fact, the more I think about it, the more I’m sure that’s exactly what I did. It’s too good an idea for me not to have thought of it!”

  After another sneezing fit, Zeus excused Bellerophon. The boy leaped up in obvious relief and ran out the door.

  Phew, thought Artemis. Looked like tomorrow’s Games weren’t doomed to be canceled after all! She stood, thinking they’d all been excused.

  “SIT! STAY!” shouted Zeus.

  Artemis sat. Her dogs stayed.

  Zeus’s sneezing calmed momentarily. “There’s another matter we need to discuss,” he said, sounding serious. His gaze swung to Aphrodite and Persephone. The two of them had been sitting quietly. Probably hoping to escape his notice. The floppy poppy bag was between them, and each girl held one of its handles.

  “It’s easy to be drawn to pretty things,” Zeus began kindly. “Especially if you’re the goddessgirl of beauty,” he said, looking at Aphrodite. “Or the goddessgirl of lovely things like flowers,” he said, switching his gaze to Persephone. “But I can’t allow the two of you to keep it.”

  “Oh, please,” said Aphrodite. Her fingers tightened on the bag’s strap.

  “We know it was wrong not to tell you,” Persephone added.

  “But I promise I’ll take good care of—” Aphrodite and Persephone said at the same time. Then they glared at each other.

  Hmm, thought Artemis, maybe things weren’t so smooth between those two yet, after all.

  “STOP!” roared Zeus at last. “I cannot allow theft.”

  Theft? All four goddessgirls stared at him, stunned.

  “But I found him,” Aphrodite said. “He was abandoned.” She lifted the woven bag into her lap and wrapped her arms around it, kitten and all. She looked ready to cry. So did Persephone.

  “Is that the . . . ah-ah-ah-CHOO! . . . necklace?” Zeus asked.

  “Necklace?” the girls all echoed in confusion.

  Suddenly Artemis guessed what was going on. “You mean Freya’s necklace?” she asked. “You think they stole it?”

  “I have it on good authority that you’ve all been hiding something.”

  Hmpf, thought Artemis. Her eyes went to the lip gloss on the desk. Since when was Pheme a “good authority”? How could she—how could Zeus—think that her friends would steal Freya’s necklace?

  “We would never—” Persephone started to say.

  “Not in a hundred—” Aphrodite interrupted.

  Artemis snapped her fingers as she realized what must’ve happened. “Back in the cafeteria today—remember when I thought Pheme saw the collar?” she told the other girls. “She must’ve thought it was Freya’s necklace!”

  “That rat!” said Aphrodite. She drew the collar from her pocket. Hefting the straps of her bag over one shoulder, she left her chair to show the collar to Zeus. “This is what Pheme saw. Hephaestus made it for Adonis.”

  Zeus studied the jeweled collar, sneezing all the while. “Ah-choo! Ah-choo. Ah-WHO?”

  “Adonis,” Artemis repeated for him. “I hope you haven’t developed an allergy to my dogs,” she added worriedly.

  Zeus shook his head, handing the collar back. “The only thing I’m allergic to is—” Just then Adonis stuck his head out of Aphrodite’s bag. Pushing off, he jumped smack in the middle of Zeus’s desk. “CATS!” Zeus finished, his eyes wide. Then he let out a whopping sneeze, followed quickly by five more.

  Looks like the cat’s finally out of the bag, thought Artemis. Literally!

  Before they could stop him, Adonis leaped onto Zeus’s broad chest, grasping his tunic with his claws.

  The goddessgirls exchanged horrified looks as Principal Zeus pointed at the door. “Get this cat OUT-CHOOOOOO!”

  18

  Persephone

  Friday evening.

  THE SOUND OF PRINCIPAL ZEUS’S SNEEZES echoed down the halls of MOA and followed the four goddessgirls all the way upstairs to their dorm. “He didn’t say Adonis had to leave MOA, just his office, right?” Aphrodite asked anxiously. After helping unhook Adonis’s claws from Zeus’s tunic, she’d scooped the kitten up and fled the office. Now he was cuddled close to her chest.

  “Right,” Persephone agreed. She was worried, though. Some people were allergic to flowers, too, and couldn’t be around them. How could they keep a cat at the Academy if their principal was allergic?

  Artemis had almost reached her door when she stopped in the middle of the hallway and smacked a hand to her forehead. “Godsamighty!” she exclaimed. “The new archery targets still need to be unpacked and set up. Tonight!” She groaned.

  “I’ll help,” Persephone offered.

  “Me too,” added Athena.

  “Count me in,” said Aphrodite. “Oh, wait. Guess I’d better stay behind and keep Adonis company.”

  Persephone looked longingly at the kitten. She’d rather stay too. After the wild day Adonis had had, he needed reassurance. Who better to give it than her? And what if Zeus announced in the morning that Adonis had to leave MOA? Tonight might be all the time they had with him. Sadness filled her at the very idea. Still, it wasn’t fair to make Artemis do all the work.

  “You guys don’t have to help,” Artemis said, seeming to sense her reluctance. “I can manage.”

  “I’m sure you can,” said Persephone. “But that’s not the point. We’re in the Girl Games together.” She glanced at Athena. “We want to help, right?”

  Athena nodded at Artemis. “Definitely. Besides, if I hadn’t nabbed you from the gym to look for Pegasus and Bellerophon, those targets would already be unpacked.”

  “All right, then. Thanks,” said Artemis, looking relieved. She shooed her dogs into her room and quickly fed them. Then she, Persephone, and Athena all headed off together.

  Outside, Persephone inhaled the scent of flowers in the air and looked up at the star-filled sky. “What a nice night,” she said.

  Bunches of students were hanging out in the courtyard, including Apollo, Hades, and Actaeon. She waved to them, but the boys didn’t notice because Penthe walked up to them just then. Glancing at Artemis, Persephone saw that she was watching Penthe too.

  Artemis’s eyes narrowed as the Amazon girl tapped Actaeon on the shoulder. She said something to him and then laughed in a flirty way. Actaeon shrugged and said something in reply.

  “Well, it was a nice night,” Artemis muttered in a tight voice.

  Persephone linked arms with both her friends and steered them onward. “It’s always nice when we’re hanging out together,” she said gently. Athena agreed.

  Artemis sent Persephone a small, grateful smile. Still, Persephone understood her mood. If Penthe tried to flirt with Hades, she’d be upset too!

  The boxes of new targets were still sitting in a corner of the storage room when the three goddessgirls arrived at the gym. They tore them open and check
ed that all twenty targets had arrived.

  “Fancy Flyers?” Athena asked, reading the label on the back of a target she’d just unpacked.

  Artemis shrugged. “It’s just the name of the company that makes them.”

  “Ha! I was hoping the targets really would fly,” joked Persephone. “How fun would that be?”

  Artemis grinned. “Well, it would be different anyway!”

  Together, the girls lugged the targets out to the archery range. It was dark now, but there were torchlights around the perimeter of the empty field. “Everyone must be resting up for tomorrow’s competitions,” said Athena, looking around.

  “Like we should be,” said Artemis. “Let’s get this done.”

  “There sure is a lot of set-up work before an Olympics,” Athena commented as they took down the old, battered targets and replaced them with the new un-holey ones.

  “Tell me about it,” Artemis said under her breath, but her friends overheard.

  “I’m sorry,” Athena said. “I should’ve been helping more.”

  “Me too,” said Persephone. She’d offered, but Artemis had always refused, acting like she wanted to control everything to do with the Games. Persephone wondered if Artemis just hadn’t known it was okay to need help once in a while.

  “Not your fault,” Artemis admitted now. “I guess I shouldn’t have tried to do it all myself.” With three of them to do the work, it didn’t take long. Still, it was way past dark by the time they started back to MOA and climbed the stairs to the dorm.

  “Night!” Persephone called to the other two as they all went to their rooms.

  Artemis yawned. “Night.”

  “Good luck to all of us tomorrow,” Athena called softly.

  “Yes to that!” Persephone called back, keeping her voice low so as not to wake anyone.

  Aphrodite was already in bed asleep when she entered the room. Adonis lay beside her in the crook of her arm. Persephone resisted the urge to pick him up and move him to her bed. Instead, she changed into her pj’s. And after a quick trip down the hall to brush her teeth, she slipped under her covers and fell fast asleep.

  Saturday morning.

  When Persephone woke, Adonis was curled up next to her on the bed. Aphrodite was already dressed in the sparkly pink running outfit she’d bought at the Immortal Marketplace.

  Persephone raised up on her elbows, pushing her long wavy red hair out of her face. “Happy Girl Games Day!” she told Aphrodite. “You look nice.”

  Aphrodite looked over and smiled. “Happy Girl Games Day to you too. And thanks for the compliment. I may not win the race, but I plan to look good trying!”

  Persephone laughed. Sitting up, she pulled the kitten onto her lap and began to pet it. Neither she nor Aphrodite spoke about Zeus and their worry that he might banish Adonis. Persephone just wanted to hold on to hope for as long as she could. She figured Aphrodite felt the same way.

  Someone knocked on the door. “You awake in there?” Athena whispered from the hall.

  “Come in!” Aphrodite called.

  The door opened and Athena and Artemis came in. Athena was wearing her navy-blue running chiton, and Artemis had on a stretchy crimson one.

  Artemis smiled broadly and spread her arms. “It’s the Girl Games! Finally. Can you believe it?”

  Suddenly all four goddessgirls had linked arms and were jumping around in an excited group hug. “Woo-hoo! Yay! Girls rock!”

  After they’d calmed down, Artemis said, “I’m starving. Let’s go eat.”

  Persephone put on a perky yellow-and-white-striped chiton her mother had sewn especially for the Games, then the four girls went downstairs to the cafeteria. They were all too revved up to eat much breakfast and were soon on their way to the sports fields together.

  There was no need to hide the kitten anymore since Principal Zeus already knew about him. So Aphrodite brought Adonis, holding him in her arms. Every now and then Persephone reached over and petted his soft fur.

  Other students paused to ask about the kitten and coo over him. Adonis didn’t seem scared at all. He just licked everyone and turned his head this way and that, as if interested in everything. He was the best, bravest, cutest kitten ever! thought Persephone.

  Up ahead, colorful banners and flags fluttered atop the tall poles that lined the sports fields and the track. The banners were decorated with symbols for each sport in the Girl Games.

  “Wow,” Artemis said admiringly. “Hera really came through with the decorations!”

  Athena smiled. “She had some help. The seamstresses at her wedding shop made them.”

  “Yeah, sometimes asking for help is a good thing,” Persephone said, giving Artemis a pointed look.

  Artemis smiled a little sheepishly. “Okay, I get it. But I just wanted things to be perfect.”

  “And they are,” said Aphrodite, her blue eyes sparkling. “The stands are packed. Everyone’s excited. Look how awesome this is!”

  Horns blared and the girls rushed to find seats together. Soon afterward the heralds announced the official start of the girls’ very first Olympics. Ta-ta-ta-TAH! They each blew on a salpinx, a long, thin, trumpetlike instrument that ended in a curved bell.

  A humongous cheer went up from the crowd as bluebirds flew overhead forming a giant “HG” logo, which stood for the Heraean Games. Then confetti exploded from the few puffy clouds in the sky, swirling down upon them all in colorful whirls.

  In unison, the heralds announced the schedule of the day’s events. The long jump was first, so Persephone leaped from her seat and zipped onto the field below.

  After she and her competitors were all gathered together, they drew numbers to determine the jumping order. Each of them would get two jumps total.

  When Persephone read the number on the papyrus slip she’d drawn, she glanced at the other three goddessgirls watching from the stands. Last, she mouthed.

  “Good luck!” “Rock it!” she heard them call back. She sort of wished she’d drawn an early slot. Then she could’ve gotten her jumps over with right away. But she smiled and waved, grateful for her friends’ support.

  She met Hades at the special competition pit that had been constructed at the track’s center. “You ready for this?” he asked as she began her warm-up exercises.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied nervously.

  “Just remember everything I taught you and you’ll be fine,” he told her.

  Easy for you to say, Persephone almost shot back. There were just so many of his instructions to keep in mind!

  She didn’t watch the other jumpers. It would only make her more stressed if she knew what distance she’d have to top to win. Better to just do her best and not think about anyone else. Still, though she turned her back on the pit, she couldn’t help hearing the cheers of the crowd when one of the girls jumped especially far.

  When it was finally her turn, Persephone took her place a proper distance from the pit. Her hands and knees shook just thinking about everyone watching her. Stop it, she told herself. Ignore them.

  Hades’ instructions ran through her head. Focus. Rhythm. Hit the board in just the right place. Don’t tense. Cycle forward. It made her brain hurt just trying to remember them all.

  Then she was off and running. She knew she was in trouble right away. Her rhythm was uneven. Afraid of overstepping the foul line, she started her jump too early.

  She landed short. Magical pink sand shot up in the air to form the numbers thirteen and six.

  Persephone groaned. Thirteen feet, six inches? Even without knowing the other girls’ distances, she knew it wasn’t good enough. Not by a long shot.

  Hades sent her an encouraging smile as she brushed off the sand and walked back to begin her second and final jump. If she’d disappointed him, he was doing his best not to show it. When she reached her starting spot again, she glanced up in the stands at her friends.

  Aphrodite caught her eye. Holding the kitten up, she yelled, “Do it for
Adonis!”

  Persephone grinned. Just seeing Adonis sent a wave of happiness through her. And the silly idea of jumping to please a kitten actually made her relax. She glanced over at Hades again. He gave her a thumbs-up.

  For some reason, the pomegranate-seed-spitting contest they’d had when she was first getting to know him flashed through her mind. Seed spitting was something she was really, really good at. She could send a seed flying farther than anyone she knew.

  Closing her eyes, she pictured herself as a seed sailing through the air. Yes, she thought. That’s it. I’ll be like a seed!

  This time when she sprinted toward the board, she didn’t think about what her arms and legs were doing. She just ran. As soon as she lifted off from the board, she knew it was going to be a good jump. She could just feel it.

  Time seemed to slow as she eyed the place where she wanted to land. I’m a seed, I’m a seed riding the wind, she thought.

  Soaring farther than she’d ever gone before, she cycled her arms and legs forward to get every last inch out of her jump. As her heels hit the sand, her knees gave a little, just the way they were supposed to, and her hips carried her forward. The crowd whooped with excitement as the sparkly pink sand swirled around her.

  When the numbers formed in the air, Persephone couldn’t believe it. Seventeen, three. Her longest jump ever! It was a jump she could be proud of, regardless of whether or not she’d won.

  As the crowd continued to cheer, she brushed herself off and stepped out of the pit. Suddenly Hades was lifting her high in the air and twirling her around.

  “Not bad, huh?” she said breathlessly after he set her back down.

  “You were awesome!” he said.

  “So, who won?” she asked.

  He stared at her in surprise. “You did, you nut. Didn’t you know?”

  She stared back at him. “Really? Leaping Olympians!” Impulsively, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Whoa,” he said, blushing. But under the blush he was grinning from ear to ear. Just then Hera approached. Since Zeus had officially named these Games in her honor, it was she who would crown the champions with the traditional olive wreath.