by Joan Holub
“Yeah,” said Stheno. “ ’Cause we don’t believe for a second you’ve got a skin disease. Why are you really wearing that glove?” Before Medusa could stop them, her sisters each made a grab for one of her arms.
“Stop! Wait!” Medusa cried out, wriggling away. She was worried they’d pull off her glove. As awful as her sisters were, she didn’t want to turn them into gold statues!
They backed off. “Go on, talk,” said Euryale. “Only, you’d better tell us the truth this time.”
“All right,” said Medusa, feeling cornered. “If you’re going to act like babies about it, I’ll tell you what you want to know. But you have to swear an oath of mumness about what I’m going to say.”
“Deal,” her sisters said quickly. With any luck, they would actually keep quiet about her new ability—at least for a while. They were better at keeping secrets than Pheme, anyway. So Medusa told them all about her golden touch, how she’d acquired it, and about making the gold items she’d sold to Mr. Dolos.
A calculating gleam came into the two girls’ eyes as she was speaking. “Do you think you could get Dionysus to give us the golden touch too?” Euryale asked after Medusa had finished her story.
“Doubt it. He doesn’t even know I have it yet,” Medusa reminded her. “He bestowed it on King Midas as a reward for his kindness and hospitality to Dionysus’s pet goat, remember? What have you two ever done for Dionysus?”
“Nothing,” Euryale admitted. “I’d sure like to know what kind of spell he used, though. I’ve never been able to do any get-rich-quick magic. Hardly anyone can.”
“I wouldn’t want to have to cover up my finger all the time anyway,” Stheno said to Euryale. Then she cocked her head at Medusa. “So whenever we want money, we’ll get you to turn something to gold for us. Okay, Snakehead? After all, you owe us. Think of all the things we’ve done for you over the years.”
“Hmm.” Medusa folded both arms and cocked her head thoughtfully. “I’m trying to.”
“What? Don’t forget how we helped you trick your way into enrolling at the Academy back at the start of third grade,” said Stheno. “And over the years we’ve stood up for you when other kids tried to bully you or your snakes.”
“True. But you also bully me yourselves,” challenged Medusa. “ ‘Snakehead’ isn’t the nicest nickname you could think of. And you call my snakes nasty names too. And, oh, by the way, if I do give you a single gold thing—and I’m not saying I will—that would be the end of me cleaning your room. Debt paid.”
To her surprise, both sisters nodded eagerly.
“And if you ever did tell anyone about my golden touch, you’d have to repay me any of the gold or money I’d given you,” added Medusa.
Stheno crossed her heart. “It’ll be a family secret.”
Euryale nodded in agreement. Then she held out her hand palm upward and wiggled her fingers meaningfully. “Now how about sharing some of those drachmas you got off Mr. Dolos?”
“Why should I?” Medusa protested. “You and Stheno just got your allowance, and it’s three times more than what I get.”
Stheno snorted. “That’s only because Mom and Dad love us more.”
She hadn’t meant it as a joke, and it wasn’t one. Their parents had made it clear Medusa’s whole life that, compared to her two immortal sisters, she was a huge disappointment to them.
Euryale rolled her eyes. “Thing is, we already spent all our allowance at the marketplace. And what’s the big deal anyway? You can always make more gold, which equals more money to spend.”
Her sister had a point. “True,” Medusa said. Caving at last, she stepped over to her desk and slid open the drawer. Then she reached in the back of the drawer for her remaining drachmas. The five chitons had been on sale for eight drachmas apiece, and the dozen ribbons had cost another four drachmas altogether. Along with the fifteen-drachma contest fee, that meant she’d spent fifty-nine of the hundred drachmas Mr. Dolos had given her.
She divided the remaining forty-one drachmas, giving twenty to each of her sisters and only keeping one for herself. “But be careful, okay? If you go crazy spending this and whatever I give you later on to buy all kinds of stuff, people will start to ask nosy questions. Like you just asked me!”
“You worry too much, Little Sister,” Stheno said, slipping the drachmas Medusa had given her into her chiton pocket.
“Yeah,” said Euryale, doing the same. “Wanna go buy some snacks and shakes at the Supernatural Market?” she asked Stheno.
“Sure,” said Stheno as she opened Medusa’s door so they could leave. “I’m thinking bags of snacks, and maybe three or four shakes apiece.”
“Yeah! Why not?” Euryale said as they started into the hall. “We’ve hit the jackpot!”
Medusa shut the door behind them. “Obviously they didn’t understand a word I said,” she grumbled to her snakes. “And did you notice how they didn’t even ask me to go with them to the market? Not that I wanted to, but still.”
Her snakes curled around her neck and lightly flicked their tongues to show their sympathy. She patted them with her gloved right hand, then switched to her left—because petting her snakes with a glove was not nearly as satisfying as touching them with bare fingers. And that was something she’d never be able to do with her right hand ever again.
9
Family Matters
WHEN MEDUSA WOKE UP SUNDAY morning, she was startled to see that her glove was on the floor. It must have fallen off during the night somehow while she’d been asleep. Luckily, she’d slept with her arm flung over the side of the bed, her hand touching nothing but air, or she might have turned her bedcovers to gold. Or maybe even herself! She still wasn’t totally sure how the golden touch worked and wasn’t about to try it on herself, lest she become a statue again.
Being careful not to touch the floor, she reached down and picked up the glove. As she slipped it back over her right hand, she vowed to tie a ribbon around the bottom of it at night from now on to make sure it stayed on.
She fed her snakes first thing, tossing handfuls of dried beans and celery curls high into the air. “Good morning, Viper, Flicka, Pretzel, Snapper, Twister, Slinky, Lasso, Slither, Scaly, Emerald, Sweetpea, and Wiggle,” she called out to them as they snatched at the snacks and gulped them down.
She wished she could take a shower, but that seemed out of the question. Instead she settled for a bath in the bathroom down the hall. While carefully keeping her right arm dangling outside the tub, she washed left-handed. It wasn’t easy and took a lot longer, but at least she didn’t turn herself, the water, or the soap to gold!
She’d just gotten back to her room when she heard a sound at her window. Tap. Tap. Tap. When she opened it, in whooshed a magic breeze. Letter delivery, it announced, immediately dropping a letterscroll tied with a silver ribbon. Medusa caught it in her golden glove. “Thanks,” she called as the breeze whooshed away.
“Think it’s from Dionysus, maybe?” she said to her snakes as they leaned forward for a better look at the scroll. She hoped he wasn’t writing to say that his goat was still sick and he’d be delayed in returning to MOA. She untied the silver ribbon and began to unroll the letter:
TO: MEDUSA GORGON
FROM: BIG D PUBLICATIONS
A flutter of excitement shot through her. Ye gods! Big D Publications was the sponsor of the Comicontest! The competition had only just ended yesterday, so Big D was certainly fast in responding. Especially given the large number of entries that had been stuffed into the contest box. Was it possible she’d won? Taking a deep breath, she unrolled the rest of the letterscroll:
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED AS THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER OF THE BIG D PUBLICATIONS COMICONTEST!
“Woo-hoo!” she whooped, before eagerly reading on.
TO COMPLETE THE PRIZE AWARD PROCESS, PLEASE COME BY OUR OFFICES AT YOUR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE.
BIG D PUBLICATIONS
SUITE 142, IMMORTAL MARKETPLACE
“Guess this means another trip to the IM,” she said, doing a quick happy dance around her room. “But who cares, right?” she said to her snakes. “My comics won! I am going to be published. Yeah!”
If Dionysus got back early enough today, maybe he could go with her to the IM so that she wouldn’t have to ask Pheme or her sisters to take her. As excited as she was about winning the contest, she’d never shared her comics with anyone before. She could hardly wait for Dionysus, especially, to read them in print!
Excited beyond belief, Medusa hurriedly dressed in one of her brand-new chitons, a hunter-green one made from a soft fabric with a scalloped hem. After unpinning her gold jellyfish pin from her old knit green chiton, she fastened it to her new chiton. Then she wound one of the twelve green ribbons she’d bought yesterday around each of her snakes. After slipping on her stoneglasses, she and her snakes preened in front of the closet mirror. Her snakes were so pleased with their appearance that she practically had to drag them away from their reflections to go to breakfast.
She kept her stoneglasses on as she started down the hall. Wearing them was pretty much second nature by now, since several mortals attended MOA, including Pandora, who was just now leaving her room. Athena, Pandora’s roommate, was with her. The two girls fell into step beside Medusa. “You and your snakes look extra nice today,” Athena said, smiling at Medusa’s hair ribbons.
Medusa’s snakes drew themselves up a little taller and prouder at the compliment. “Thanks,” said Medusa, “on behalf of both me and my reptiles.”
Pandora eyed Medusa’s glove. “Pheme told me about your skin disease?” she said. Making a statement sound like a question was something the curious girl often did. “Is it a rash?” she asked next. “Does it itch? Will you have to wear that glove forever?”
Medusa shrugged, which was sometimes the best way to answer all of Pandora’s questions at once. She and Pandora had actually been roommates for a short time, and after that, Medusa had roomed with Pheme briefly. But Pandora’s constant questions and, later, Pheme’s constant chatter and resulting cloud-letters had driven Medusa crazy.
So she’d turned Pandora’s questions back on her and established a no-cloud-letters ban with Pheme that had eventually rid her of first one roommate and then the other. Really, she much preferred rooming with just her snakes. They were not only good company; they were quiet.
Perhaps because Pandora had drawn attention to Medusa’s glove, Athena kept glancing at it. Remembering what Pheme had said about the red-handed spell on Athena’s diary, Medusa wondered if this brainy girl was suspicious of her now. Well, if Athena wanted to believe that Medusa had snooped in her diary and was covering up the result with a glove, maybe that was better than her knowing the truth . . . for now, anyway.
In the cafeteria Medusa snagged a plate of hambrosia and eggs from the eight-armed lunch lady and went to sit next to Pheme, who was already at their usual table. Stheno and Euryale were seated there too. They were too busy whispering to each other to pay any attention to Medusa, though.
Pheme chattered on about this and that, cloud-letters rising above her head, but Medusa was only half-listening. Instead she was thinking about how great it was going to be to see her comics published, and about all the things she could buy now that her golden touch would guarantee her an endless source of wealth.
Maybe she’d buy her very own chariot, she mused. Then she’d never again have to ask anyone for help using winged sandals. She’d have to convince Zeus to let her keep a chariot at MOA, though. So far he’d only allowed Artemis to do that. Hers was pulled by milk-white deer with golden antlers. But Medusa thought it would be cool to have sea serpents pull hers.
Suddenly a loud grunting noise sounded from over by the cafeteria door, causing a hush to fall over the students.
Medusa gave a start. Huh? She’d know that sound anywhere! Like everyone else in the cafeteria, she glanced toward the door. Ye gods! Her worst suspicions were confirmed. There stood her dad, Phorcys, a sea hog who only talked in gruntspeak. And next to them was her mom, Ceto, a sea monster. What were they doing here? she wondered. They’d never come to MOA before. Not even for special occasions!
Her parents gazed around the cafeteria, and within moments her mother’s eyes zeroed in on her. “Dusa!” she exclaimed. “My baby!” Like a nightmare come to life, she waddled across the room and enveloped Medusa in a big hug, right in front of all the other students.
What? Her mother never hugged her.
Medusa was so embarrassed, she wanted to sink right through the floor. She wished her mom had just ignored her, same as always, and gushed over her sisters like she usually did instead. What in Zeus’s name had gotten into her?
Her dad had slithered on over too, grunting away. Now he was smiling down at her, his fish tail flopping back and forth across the floor behind him.
“Umm. Why are you guys here?” Medusa couldn’t help asking. She glanced over at Stheno and Euryale. “Did you know Mom and Dad were coming?”
Her sisters shook their heads, but a guilty look passed between them. Then their mom said to Medusa, “After we got your sisters’ special delivery letterscroll last night, we decided to just show up and surprise you! Our little golden girl!”
Special delivery letterscroll? Golden girl? Oh, great. Just great, thought Medusa. Not! So her loose-lipped sisters had been unable to keep her secret for even one day. Instead they’d immediately gone and spilled the beans to their parents. And since her parents normally didn’t have any time to spare, their visit could only mean one thing. They wanted to exploit her new ability. Sure enough, Ceto began to hint around about the additional rooms and the swimming pool she and Phorcys had always wanted to add on to their small cottage back home.
Tossing her sisters a dark look, Medusa began trying to coax her parents outside the cafeteria. “We should talk somewhere more private,” she said, managing a smile. Her mom and dad allowed her to lead them outdoors and across the courtyard. She was taking them toward the olive grove, where they’d have less chance of being seen or heard.
Along the way they passed the school’s new anemometer, a gadget used to measure wind speed. The anemometer had been combined with the carved likenesses of the four winds—Boreas, Zephyr, Notus, and Eurus—by the amazing sculptor Pygmalion during monstrous Typhon’s recent rampage, the same rampage that had destroyed King Midas’s palace and the homes and farms of the people of Phrygia!
“Show us how your wonderful new magic works,” her mom insisted eagerly as soon as they were inside the grove.
With a heavy sigh Medusa withdrew her glove. After dropping it onto a bench at the center of the grove, she demonstrated her golden touch on a couple of ordinary rocks she picked up. Pleased with the result, her parents scouted around for more rocks, and a couple of sticks, too. These Medusa also turned to gold.
Her parents loaded a bag they’d brought from home with the gold rocks and sticks. “Thanks, Dusa,” said her mom. “This will do for now. We’ll let you know when we need more.” Then, after a grunt from her dad and a murmured farewell from her mom, the two of them headed for home.
“Aren’t you going say bye to Stheno and Euryale before you leave?” Medusa called in surprise.
Ceto turned her head and smiled. “We really only came to see you,” she called back.
“Uh-huh,” her dad grunt-agreed. Then the pair slithered and waddled on down the trail that would take them to Earth.
Medusa had often dreamed of hearing her mom or dad say such loving words to her. But their words rang hollow now. They’d only come because she was finally able to give them something they really wanted. Gold!
Once her parents reached the sea, they’d probably swim home
—or take a ship if their bag of gold proved too heavy—she thought as she watched them disappear from view. She’d always wished her parents would pay her more attention, but not in this way. Not because they simply wanted her to give them money!
Medusa picked up her glove from the bench and slipped it over her right hand again. “It’ll be a family secret,” she remembered her sisters promising. They’d tricked her, of course, but she couldn’t exactly accuse them of breaking their promise, since their parents were part of their family!
Whoo! Whoo! Just then a big brown owl swooped down from the tree above her head to land on the bench where her glove had been resting just moments before. Then, right before her eyes, the owl transformed into a brown-haired goddessgirl with blue-gray eyes.
“Athena?” squeaked Medusa. “Um, how much did you see?”
10
Keep-Away
EVERYTHING,” SAID ATHENA. “I SAW and heard everything. Sorry for spying, but you were acting so suspicious earlier, and—”
“Pheme told me about your dumb diary,” interrupted Medusa. “I never touched it,” she added in a prickly tone of voice. “Believe it or not, I don’t make a habit of prowling around in other people’s rooms.” The words came out sounding angrier than she’d intended. Mainly because she was embarrassed that Athena had overheard what had happened with her parents.
“I believe you.” Athena easily brushed aside her argumentative comments, then motioned for Medusa to sit on the bench beside her. “I’m guessing you weren’t expecting your mom and dad to show up at school. Parents can be so embarrassing, right?”
Medusa sat, sighing. “That’s for sure.” Athena could undoubtedly relate to parent problems. Her real mom was a fly named Metis who’d already buzzed off by the time Zeus had met and married Hera. Having Zeus as a dad couldn’t be easy either. He could be loud and corny. And since electricity shot from his fingertips whenever he got angry, he probably sometimes zapped Athena’s friends . . . and maybe even her crush, Heracles. That would be mega-embarrassing.