by Joan Holub
Eyeing one another accusingly, they began to argue. “Hey! Why did you throw that rock at me?” “What? I didn’t do it!” “He did.” “Liar! Liar! Tin pants on fire!” Soon they started throwing punches. With each smack the bolts holding their parts together loosened. Eventually those bolts broke. And one by one the metal monsters began to fall apart. It wasn’t long before they were reduced to a big pile of rubble!
Sounding joyful, Orpheus sang a loud victory song:
“Jason fought creatures who were silly dolts.
Now they’re twisted metal and old broken bolts.”
“Thanks, Medea! Two down. One task to go,” said Jason.
His praise buoyed her, but Medea was still bothered by the way he and Glauce had gazed at each other. There was no time to dwell on that right now, though.
“You still have to defeat the serpent-dragon that guards the fleece,” Atalanta noted.
Jason, Orpheus, and the three invisible girls moved to the end of the field where a grove enclosed by a wrought-iron fence stood. A half dozen fountains with dancing waters surrounded the enormous oak that grew at the center of the grove. And from a branch of that oak hung the fleece, gleaming bright gold in the sunlight.
“Only Medea and I will go in,” said Jason, taking charge. “The rest of you should stay back. No sense taking chances. That dragon looks like a killer. And anyway, you’ll be able to see what’s going on from behind the fence.
None of the others even tried to argue with him, not even Glauce since she feared creepy serpentine things. The dragon did look fearsome! It was turquoise and scaly, with a pointed fin rising from its forehead and bat wings at its shoulders. Its head rested high in one of the oak tree’s leafy branches and its long, serpentine tail was wound around the tree’s trunk. Medea was glad to go with Jason, though. Anything to help her crush!
Creak! The gate squeaked as she and Jason entered and tiptoed inside. The dragon shifted and snuffled but didn’t look their way.
Jason and Medea crept toward it cautiously. Medea had never been this close to it before. Glancing away from the creature for just a moment, she spotted her dad’s jewel-studded chair at the far side of the tree. She frowned at it, imagining him sitting there every evening to gaze adoringly at his fleece.
“Sleeping on the job. Hmph! What a lazy dragon,” whispered Jason.
“Careful,” Medea warned him. “It’s likely to be a trick. Like I told you, that dragon never sleeps.”
“But its eyes are closed. Maybe we can just grab the fleece and sneak away?” He took a step in the dragon’s direction.
Medea was about to question the wisdom of that plan when she heard someone singing softly. Afraid for Jason, Orpheus had begun quietly crooning outside the gate, though not with his usual gusto:
“This dragon looks fierce,
Who knows what it’ll do?
Will Jason, our leader,
Wind up barbecue?”
She frowned back at Orpheus. “Shh!” she hissed. But it was too late. Having heard him, the dragon went on full alert. Roaring out a fiery blast, it swiftly uncurled from the tree trunk and lunged at Jason with its saw-blade teeth bared!
Medea gasped. Was her crush indeed about to be barbecued . . . and eaten? They both jumped back. Thinking fast, Medea ran to the walled edge of the closest fountain. There she grabbed a green flagon and used it to dip water from the fountain. Quickly she whipped out her gold-tipped laurel wand. A bluebird fluttered near and sat upon the dry end of her wand curiously, not realizing she was there. For a moment she’d forgotten she was invisible to all but her small group.
The bird flew off, startled when she tapped her wand against the outside of the flagon. She did so six times, once for each letter in the word “dragon,” while murmuring a simple spell that would transform the water into a magic potion:
“Potion in this flagon
Bring sleep to that dragon!”
In the distance she heard Orpheus softly repeating her words to himself. Would her spell wind up in the musical? Who knew?
Medea rushed the potion over to the dragon. “No! Give it to me,” Jason called out over the creature’s roars. “I need to do each task myself.”
“Oh, right!” Medea thrust the flagon into Jason’s hand just as the dragon lunged. Angry green puffs exploded from its snout. Its forked red tongue flicked and its jaws opened wide. Somehow it seemed to sense she was there even though the bird had not. Would it swallow her and Jason both whole? She hugged herself tight, fearing the worst.
Splat! Jason splashed the sleeping potion in the dragon’s face.
Instantly it jerked backward, its red eyeballs crossing and a goofy grin spreading across its turquoise, scaly face. The dragon swayed uncertainly, and then toppled to the ground. BOOM! With its head resting on a thick root, it curled its tail around the oak’s trunk and started to snore. Once the dragon was no longer a threat, Orpheus, Atalanta, and Glauce opened the gate and ran into the grove.
Standing under the tree, Jason jumped, reaching for her dad’s treasured cape. He missed. He jumped again. And missed again. Atalanta tried giving him a boost, but it was no use.
“It’s too high!” Jason declared.
They all looked around the grove. At the exact same moment, Jason and Medea pointed to the king’s jeweled chair. “We can use that!” they both exclaimed. Since it would’ve been breaking the king’s rule for Orpheus to help, he could only watch as Jason and the three girls dragged the heavy chair over to the tree and positioned it below the branch with the fleece.
Jason grabbed a long stick from the ground, then climbed to stand on the chair’s seat. Whap! He swung the stick at the fleece. Yet another miss. He was still too low. In a risky move, he climbed higher to stand with one foot on each of the chair’s sturdy arms, while the girls helped him balance. Whap! In one try he finally knocked that Golden Fleece from the branch! When it dropped to drape neatly across the chair’s high back, he clambered down. “Got it!” he shouted.
Just then, they heard a noise from the far end of the grove and saw the flash of armor. “Someone’s coming! My dad’s guards,” warned Medea.
“Let’s go, just in case they try to back out of our deal,” said Glauce.
Unfortunately, when Jason tried to grab the fleece, it wouldn’t budge. “It’s stuck, caught on the chair’s jewels!” he informed them. Orpheus tried to help loosen it, but then said, “It’ll rip if we pull harder.”
As the sounds of clanking armor drew closer, the guards spotted them. “Look! Jason has a guy from his crew helping him. Tell the king that there’s cheating afoot. Deal’s off! Return the fleece!”
“Oh no!” said Medea. Had they been cheating? Depends on how you defined the exact time this third task ended. She had a feeling both sides would forever disagree about that, but her crush on Jason kept her firmly on his side in this matter.
“We’ll just have to take the chair with us. C’mon!” she hissed. So Jason, Orpheus, and the girls hefted the chair with the fleece between them and ran through the gate. Then all five made a break for the Argo.
10
Escaping
WE DID IT! WE GOT the fleece!” Jason proclaimed jubilantly once they were back on the ship and Medea had reversed her spell, making Atalanta, Glauce, and herself visible again. It took Jason about ten minutes to carefully loosen the precious fleece from the king’s chair and store it in his leather sack for safekeeping. Then, as the ship shoved off, he marched to the stern with the chair and set it in the same spot his old bench had occupied before the Symplegades smashed it. Plopping himself down in the seat of the fancy chair, he smiled, looking very proud of himself.
“So now what?” Glauce asked him. “Are you going back to Iolcus to give the fleece to King Pelias? Think he’ll really give you back your dad’s kingdom if you do?” Her questions reminded Medea that even though the quest for the fleece was over, Jason still had other goals to accomplish.
“After all we’ve been thro
ugh to get it, he’d better!” said Jason. “Listen, I’ll drop you girls off at your school. It’s not on our way, but it’s the least we can do to repay you for your help.”
Glauce pouted slightly, looking unhappy at the prospect of being parted from him. But Medea only nodded. Jason had won. Her dad had lost. Though the effects of Eros’s arrow made her happy for Jason, she felt heartsick that she’d betrayed her dad. Would he be dethroned now, as Circe had prophesied? She hoped not! It hardly seemed fair that by helping Jason’s dad get his kingdom back, Medea might’ve caused her own dad to lose his kingdom!
The sun soon turned bright orange as it sank lower, sending strands of pink and purple along the horizon. Standing at the tiller, Tiphys gazed at the darkening sky, then bent to study a mysterious dotted scroll he held. When he noticed Medea staring at him curiously, he explained, “It’s a star chart showing heavenly objects. By comparing the positions of stars and planets to the location of land formations we pass, I’m able to navigate the ship.”
“Interesting!” Medea said in fascination. If she were going to be on the ship longer, she would have liked to learn more.
“Danger!” the crewman in the crow’s nest suddenly shouted. “King Aeëtes is in pursuit!”
“Now that’s what I call a dramatic announcement! Good job!” the figurehead praised him.
All heads turned to look back across the water toward Colchis. Yikes! It was true! Medea’s dad was indeed sailing behind them. Euphemus, Atalanta, and Calais sent warning arrows arcing across the sky toward the king’s ship. But still it plowed straight ahead, gaining on them.
She should’ve known her dad would come after the Argo, thought Medea. After all, his guards would have informed him that Jason and Orpheus had cheated in getting the Golden Fleece, even though that wasn’t strictly true in her opinion. Crouching low to make sure she couldn’t be seen from the king’s ship, Medea’s eyes scoured the Argo, searching for anything that might help head off a battle. “I know! Can I have someone’s bird pillow?”
Immediately Glauce grabbed Jason’s pillow and handed it to her. “Are you going to throw it overboard?” she asked hopefully.
“Something like that. I . . . ,” began Medea. Then her mouth snapped shut. For once, she wasn’t going to hint at her idea so Glauce could take charge of it as her own. Instead, using her wand, Medea zapped the pillow into a likeness of the fleece.
Handing it to Jason, she said, “Tell my dad that this is his precious fleece. And then let him see you toss it overboard,” she instructed. “Looking for it ought to slow him down.”
“Good idea!” Jason jumped up to stand on the seat of the jeweled chair. Holding the pillow-turned-fleece high in one fist, he shouted to the Colchis ship. “Here! You can have your fleece back!” Then he drew back his arm and sent the fake fleece soaring. It angled high before dropping into the sea about halfway between the two ships. Splash!
Behind them, King Aeëtes’ ship raced up to the spot where the fake fleece had splashed down. But the waterlogged fleece had quickly sunk beneath the waves. As the king’s ship came to a stop, the Argo sailed swiftly onward.
“They’re fishing around for it with spears and nets,” called the crow’s-nest crewman moments later.
“The king and his men must think it’s really the fleece!” the figurehead rejoiced.
Jason nodded happily. “By the time they rescue it and figure out it’s a fake, we’ll be long gone.”
As the Argonauts made their getaway, Medea sat on Heracles’ former bench and watched the distance between the Argo and her dad’s ship widen until the king’s ship was only a tiny point on the distant horizon. She was filled with heartache. Number one: She had betrayed her dad. And number two: Her crush was obviously in like with Glauce, not her. Even now Jason was gazing fondly at Glauce as the two of them happily chatted together.
Turning away from them, Medea stared unhappily out to sea. A minute or two later she was startled to look up and see Jason standing beside her. “I just wanted to say thanks, Medea. I couldn’t have gotten the fleece without you. I know that.”
She smoothed her hair and jumped up. “Glad to help,” she said brightly.
“You really saved my bacon back there in Colchis, and then again when your dad came after us on his ship,” Jason went on. “We couldn’t have succeeded without your fast thinking. The whole ship is grateful to you.”
Medea beamed at him. It felt good to receive credit and praise for her ideas. Especially since, through a large part of their journey, Glauce had either put her ideas down or claimed them as her own. Thinking on this, she suddenly knew she’d been mistaken about Jason’s lack of skill.
“You know, what I said about you before was wrong. You’re actually a really good leader,” she told him earnestly. “And leading others well takes skill.”
He cocked his head at her. “Oh?”
“Yeah, I can see now that it took smarts to choose just the right crew and to figure out everyone’s capabilities,” Medea explained. “And I truly admire how you’ve encouraged and brought out the best in all of us throughout the voyage.”
Hearing her, the other crew members nodded in agreement. “She’s right.” “It’s true.” “You let all of us shine as bright as the fleece, Jason!” various members exclaimed. The figurehead joined in. “Hooray for Jason!” it called out.
“Hip, hip, hooray!” everyone shouted. This time Jason was the one beaming. And Medea was happy for him. But her happiness soured when Glauce came over and slipped her hand into his.
Hmph. Just when Medea had decided Jason was a good judge of character, he showed bad judgment in liking Glauce! Why couldn’t he see her flaws like Medea had come to see them? She remembered the saying “love is blind.” So maybe crushing made you blind to the flaws of the one you were crushing on. Whatever. Medea was seriously starting to wish her own crush feelings would go away!
The wind picked up a few minutes later, turning the waves choppy. Another of Poseidon’s storms blew in, and it kept the whole crew busy for the rest of the evening. That godboy must be showing his displeasure over the outcome of the quest, thought Medea. Well, despite Jason’s praise, she wasn’t totally satisfied either. She was really worried about what might be going on back home in Colchis. Had her dad already lost his kingdom—the only home she’d ever known?
After the storm stirred up the sea, it was easy to catch fish. Medea set aside her worries as all on board celebrated their bounty with a seafood feast. Spirits were high among the crew as they went to sleep that night.
Three days later on Saturday, the morning dawned bright and sunny. When Medea woke, the Argo was heading straight for Aeaea. She could already see the red and black flags of Enchantment Academy whipping in the breeze at the top of the hill!
Upon reaching the school, the Argo paused just long enough to drop off Glauce and her. Jason had gone out of his way to take them home, and so was understandably eager to rush onward and deliver the fleece to King Pelias at Iolcus, back where this whole quest had started. Waving farewell to the Argonauts, the two girls watched them sail away.
“Medea! Glauce! Are you okay?” Circe was back from MOA and came running down to the shore to greet them, having seen the ship. With evident relief she hugged them both while frowning after Jason and his crew as if suspecting they’d been responsible for the girls’ disappearance. “I only returned to EA minutes ago myself,” she told them. “That’s when I found out you hadn’t been here all week as I’d believed. But I’m sure I wanded you here from the Hero-ology classroom last Monday. So what happened? How did you wind up aboard the Argo?”
As the three of them took the stone steps up the embankment to the school, Medea and Glauce explained. Once they’d made it clear that Jason hadn’t kidnapped them, Circe calmed down. “You girls must be hungry. Come, most of the students are still at breakfast. I’ll get you something to eat.”
The minute they entered the cafeteria, a girl from school ran up to Glauce,
holding out a wand. It leaped from the girl’s hands to Glauce, who caught it gratefully. “You found me!” she said, hugging her wand like a long-lost friend.
Circe brought them breakfast, listening in as Glauce eagerly told everyone her version of the quest. Medea grew more and more anxious when every sentence her frenemy spoke began with “I.” She didn’t even mention Medea at all unless it was a thinly veiled put-down.
Still under the effects of Eros’s crushing spell, Medea picked at her food as Glauce gleefully revealed that she and Jason were crushing. Medea couldn’t help feeling sad and jealous of their happiness.
But when Glauce spoke about stealing the fleece, Circe’s eyes narrowed. “Medea, come with me, please,” she instructed sternly. Once they were standing together at the side of the cafeteria, Circe folded her arms. “Okay, what’s going on with you?” she asked. “I know there must be some reason you helped those Argonauts get the fleece. Or is Glauce fibbing about that?”
Medea sighed, and a tear leaked from the corner of one eye. “I’m sorry, Aunt Circe. I’ve made a big fat mess of things. Not on purpose, though.” She held out her palm to display the tiny heart-shaped spot still visible there. “See, I pricked my hand on one of Eros’s crush-causing arrows. It made me start liking Jason—a lot. That’s why I helped the Argonauts get Dad’s fleece. Because I was crushing on Jason. I still am, even though I don’t want to be. Liking somebody can be really miserable, you know?”
“And Glauce?”
“She’s crushing on him too, only I think her crush is for real,” said Medea.
Circe patted her shoulder, saying mysteriously, “Don’t worry. Go back to your breakfast. I’ll fix this.” While Medea returned to her table, Circe ducked into the cafeteria kitchen. A few moments later she was back with two tall glasses of lemonade. She held them out to Medea and Glauce. “You must be thirsty,” she told them. “Drink up!”