Medusa the Rich Read online

  Terrified for her crush, Medusa still held her head high. “Free us at once!” she commanded the pirate king. “Or I’ll remove my protective glasses. And then it won’t be just your heart that’s made of stone!”

  To show that that this was no idle threat, Flicka and Slinky tugged on Medusa’s glasses to lift them off her nose a little.

  “It’s true!” one of the pirates yelled. He’d just come running up from belowdeck, waving a scroll in his hand. “I knew I remembered reading about someone who has a stone gaze and attends that swanky Mount Olympus Academy. I just found the article in an old issue of the Fierce Pirates Periodical!” He unfurled the scroll and flashed a drawing of Medusa for everyone to see. “She does have a stone gaze, just like she says!”

  With that, he seemed to realize he could be in danger of being turned to stone himself. “Eek!” He turned around and ran belowdecks again, slamming the door behind him. On the way, he tripped, dropping something near Dionysus’s feet. A knife!

  Panicking now, most of the pirates ran to the gangplank at the side of the ship and threw themselves overboard to swim to the nearest island. The few who were left—probably the ones who couldn’t swim—scrambled up the masts to hide in the crow’s nest or among the sails.

  “Come back here, you cowards!” the pirate king yelled after them. But they’d heard what the crewman with the scrollazine had said and had seen what Medusa had done to the fish. And they were taking no chances with her and her snakes!

  While the pirates were busy jumping ship, Dionysus grabbed the dropped knife. He ran over to Medusa and cut her free.

  “Quick! Slice through the grapevines!” she told Dionysus. “Taking them down will signal Aphrodite, Athena, and Artemis that we’re ready to catch a ride back to MOA.”

  As they were tugging the last of the vines off, Aphrodite’s swan cart landed in the middle of the deck. No Zeus, Medusa noticed. She wasn’t all that surprised he hadn’t been found. An hour wasn’t a lot of time, and Athena didn’t even know exactly where her dad had gone.

  Awestruck by the appearance of the magical cart and the beautiful goddessgirls inside it, the pirate king stopped chasing his crew. In fact, as Medusa and Dionysus climbed inside the cart, the few pirates aboard stood rooted to the deck—or clinging to the masts—staring as if they really had become stone statues for a moment.

  “Wait,” said Medusa, halting her friends’ departure. “Should we take that?” She pointed to a chest overflowing with treasure.

  Artemis nodded. “I vote yes. Those pirates looted it from temples and other ships, so we should return it to its rightful owners.”

  “Yeah!” chorused the others. Quickly Athena cast a spell over the treasure chest to magically lighten it and lift it off the deck into the front of the cart. The three goddessgirls squished together in the front of the cart, leaving the backseat for Medusa and Dionysus. Because the chest took up so much space, Medusa had to sit shoulder to shoulder with Dionysus. Not that she minded!

  “No-ho-ho!” wailed the pirate king as he watched the chest being spirited away.

  “Ye-hess-hess!” Medusa shouted in return. “Maybe that’ll teach you that nothing good comes from stealing!”

  As they flew over the Aegean Sea, Medusa and Dionysus filled the others in on their harrowing adventure. They were about halfway back to MOA when they met Zeus and Hera. Zeus was riding Pegasus, while Hera rode right alongside him in her elegant one-seater chariot pulled by peacocks. It turned out that the temple ceremony they’d attended had been in Cyrene, which was on the north African coast, way south of where the goddessgirls had flown.

  Zeus’s brilliant blue eyes went wide when he suddenly noticed the chest full of treasure, most of it stolen from temples dedicated to him. “Explain!” he commanded.

  After Medusa and the others told him what had happened in his absence, he scolded them for going off on such a dangerous journey without him, despite the girls’ insistence that they had tried to find him. But then he caught site of the chest again, and boomed, “Well, in the end you did a good job!”

  At Hera’s suggestion they all landed briefly on an uninhabited island that was no bigger than MOA’s gymnasium, and transferred the treasure chest to her chariot. “We’ll return all this booty to the temples and ships from which it was stolen,” she promised the girls. “Some of it will also come in handy for repairs to the towns and villages damaged during Typhon’s rampage.”

  “Just what I was thinking!” Zeus proclaimed.

  Athena winked at Hera. “Yeah, good idea, Dad.” It was no secret that Principal Zeus loved to get credit for brilliant ideas and schemes. And he often did come up with them. No matter who’d thought of the idea, it had reminded Medusa about the damage to King Midas’s palace and the homes and farms in Phrygia.

  As she and her friends were climbing back into Aphrodite’s swan cart to continue on to Mount Olympus, Hera caught Medusa’s eye and smiled at her. Then she turned toward Zeus and whispered something into his ear. Principal Zeus nodded, grinning mightily. “You are absolutely right, sugar pie. It was a very daring rescue, and she does deserve a reward.”

  Reward? Medusa’s breath quickened as he swung his gaze toward her. “Just a sec,” he told her. He then plunged both of his meaty hands into the treasure chest and rooted around until he came up with a gold necklace that was practically dripping with dazzling green emeralds. It had to be worth a fortune!

  “A token of gratitude for your heroism,” he said, handing it to Medusa. “Well done.”

  “Thank you!” Medusa beamed as she took the necklace from him. It was heavier than she’d expected, and she almost dropped it. Truthfully, she wasn’t quite sure where she could ever wear such a heavy and luxurious piece of jewelry. And she wondered a little guiltily if she were really deserving of such a reward. She hadn’t told Zeus and Hera about the whole golden-touch disaster. But then, no one else had mentioned it either, so she kept mum.

  Which reminded her . . . when no one was looking, she whipped off her gold glove and poked one of the emeralds in the necklace with her right index finger. Nothing happened. Ye gods! She really was well and truly free of the golden touch! For real and for sure.

  Honk! Honk! Aphrodite’s swans had begun to flap their wings. Soon the swan cart was airborne toward Mount Olympus once more. Medusa was already wearing her QoM necklace, so she tucked Zeus’s gift necklace into the pocket of her chiton. Unfortunately, with the treasure chest gone, there was now plenty of space in the backseat, so she had no excuse to sit near Dionysus.

  Aphrodite, who was the goddessgirl of love after all, must have sensed her disappointment. With an over-the-shoulder grin at Medusa, she directed her swans into an unnecessarily abrupt turn so that the swan cart dipped sideways.

  “Whoa!” said Dionysus and the other girls, trying to right themselves.

  Meanwhile Medusa slid across the seat and almost landed in Dionysus’s lap! “Oops, sorry,” she said, pushing back from him some. “Didn’t mean to squash you like a pancake.”

  Dionysus laughed, showing those dimples she always loved. Then he reached for her hand. As the fingers of her right hand twined in his left, she was glad once more to be rid of the golden curse.

  “Thanks for the rescue, greenie-girl,” Dionysus said softly.

  “No problemo-ho,” she replied, which made them both laugh.

  At that moment Athena turned around to speak to Medusa, but then she burst into giggles, seeming to forget whatever it was she’d been planning to say. Artemis and Aphrodite glanced back and then burst into giggles too.

  “What?” asked Medusa.

  Dionysus was also grinning at her now. Or more precisely, at the top of her head.

  “Are my snakes up to something?” she asked, suddenly suspicious.

  Aphrodite pulled a small hand mirror from her pocket and handed it back to Medusa. The cart wobbled momentarily as her mind wandered from her driving. “See for yourself.”

  With her stonegl
asses firmly in place, Medusa angled the mirror so she could better see the top of her head. She blushed when she saw what her snakes had done. They’d looped together in pairs to form six interlocking hearts above her head!

  “Ha-ha,” she told them. “Very funny, guys.” But she said it in a fond tone of voice. She was so happy that her snakes were wiggly and well again that she could put up with a few high jinks. And in all honesty they’d only expressed the liking she truly felt for Dionysus.

  “Can I see the necklace Dad gave you?” Athena asked a few moments later.

  “Sure,” said Medusa. She drew it from her pocket and passed it over the seat to Athena. “It’s pretty amazing, but I’m not sure I’ll ever actually wear it. I’d be afraid of losing it. And it seems a bit . . .”

  “Much?” Artemis supplied, grinning at her over one shoulder.

  “Yeah, I was going to say ‘grandiose.’ ”

  “You could always sell it,” Athena told her, passing it to the other girls to examine as well. “Dad won’t mind.”

  “Mr. Dolos will probably only give me a fraction of its true value,” Medusa mused. Still, she could probably buy a thousand new chitons with the money she’d make in trade. Only, how many new chitons did she need? she thought as Athena, Aphrodite, and Artemis continued to ooh and aah over the fabulous necklace. She already had five new outfits. That might not seem like very many to someone like Aphrodite, who changed her clothes several times a day, but to her it was plenty.

  Her snakes dropped down to nestle lovingly around the base of her neck, and she reached to stroke them with her free hand. Slinky and Pretzel wound around her wrist briefly, then unwound again. It was their version of a hug.

  Really, she decided happily, she already had everything she could possibly want now that her snakes had come back to life. And now that Dionysus was safe and sound.

  When the others had all admired the necklace, Artemis passed it back to her. Surely she could find a truly good use for the necklace, Medusa thought as she gazed upon it. And in a flash she knew what that use would be.

  “Could you drop me off at the IM?” Medusa asked Aphrodite as the swan cart flew over the marketplace. “I’ve got something I want to do there.” In addition to her plans for the necklace, she needed to find suite 142 so she could sign a contract to allow Big D Publications to publish her comics. With all of today’s other excitements, she couldn’t believe she’d almost forgotten about her Comicontest win!

  “I’ll go with you,” Dionysus said quickly. He hadn’t said anything in a while, and she had a feeling there was something on his mind. “We can grab some shakes at the Hungry, Hungry Harpy Café and then borrow pairs of winged sandals at the rental place afterward to get back to MOA.”

  “Mega-cool,” said Medusa. It was sweet of him to offer to go with her. Without him it would be a long walk back to MOA, since she couldn’t make winged sandals fly on her own. Or she would have had to wait around to try to hitch a ride back to MOA in Hermes’ Delivery Service chariot.

  As they landed at the IM, Medusa and Dionysus jumped down from the swan cart. “Later!” Medusa called to her friends. The girls waved good-bye as the cart lifted off again, heading for the Academy.

  “First things first,” Medusa said as she and Dionysus entered the marketplace. She held up the necklace. “I’m going to put this to good use.”

  Dionysus cocked an eyebrow, his violet eyes sparkling. “Oh? Can’t wait to hear how.”

  Medusa just smiled at him as she headed for the Hermes’ Delivery Service kiosk across from the Green Scene. If Dionysus was surprised when she stopped at the kiosk, he didn’t show it. He still seemed preoccupied with something.

  He shifted from one foot to the other as she chose a large padded envelope from a pile on the kiosk’s counter. While she was paying for the envelope with her last remaining drachma, Dionysus cleared his throat. Finally he said, “I . . . um . . . There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you . . .”

  “Yeah? And what’s that?” she asked distractedly as she shoved the necklace into the envelope and then sealed it up. After flipping the envelope over, she grabbed a feather pen from a jar on the counter and began to write.

  But instead of continuing with whatever he’d been about to ask, Dionysus’s attention switched to the envelope she was writing on. “What are you doing?” he asked curiously.

  “What I told you,” Medusa said, “putting this necklace to good use.” She showed him the address she’d written on the envelope.

  TO: KING MIDAS OF PHRYGIA

  FROM: MEDUSA

  FOR: DISASTER RELIEF

  For a second Dionysus just stared at her. Then suddenly he leaned a little closer and kissed her lightly on the cheek before drawing back again. “Greenie-girl, I’m proud of you!”

  At his praise, a flood of warm feelings washed over Medusa. A moment like this one was worth more than any amount of gold, she thought, still feeling his kiss on her cheek. It was priceless!

  He knew how she never had any money. And how she hated having to rely on her sisters for things because of her lack of funds. So he probably figured this was a huge sacrifice. And it sort of was. Still . . .

  “I’ve decided that money isn’t everything,” she told him, only just then realizing it was true. “However, there are times when it can do a lot of good.”

  With that, she dropped the envelope with the necklace through a slot in the drop-off bin. The packages inside would be loaded onto one of Hermes’ delivery chariots later that afternoon.

  She turned to Dionysus. “Now we need to find suite 142.”

  He looked over at the Green Scene across the way. “That’s number 114,” he said.

  “Oh yeah. So it is.” Funny how she’d never noticed the numbers beneath the store signs before. Seeing the number 117 on the Mighty Fighty store up ahead, they began to walk in that direction. Along the way Medusa explained about the comic contest she’d entered and won and how her comics would now be published.

  “Comics? Really? That’s amazing! Me and the guys love comics,” Dionysus said in admiration. “I can’t believe you kept this talent of yours hidden all this time. I can’t wait to see them. In fact, I want to buy the first copy!”

  Medusa blushed, not wanting to admit that she’d been worried about showing her comics to anyone. She hadn’t been sure they were really any good. “Well, now you know,” she said at last.

  The numbers on the store signs had been increasing steadily. When they passed the blue door of Ship Shape, the pet supply store, Medusa saw that they were already up to number 140. Then came 141, the Hungry, Hungry Harpy Café. And just past that was . . . Mr. Dolos’s Be a Hero store!

  Huh? Medusa did a double take, rechecking the number on the sign to make sure she hadn’t made a mistake. But underneath the name of the Be a Hero store in small letters and numbers were the words “suite 142.” Then it came to her. The D in “Big D Publications” must stand for “Dolos”!

  The minute they entered the store, the short round shopkeeper—and publisher, too, apparently—took one look at Dionysus and paled. He ran a nervous hand through his slick, black hair, then dropped down behind the counter as if hoping they hadn’t seen him.

  Dionysus went and leaned over the counter to stare down at him. “Relax,” he said. When Dionysus didn’t immediately get angry, Mr. Dolos did just that and stood again, smiling sheepishly.

  “Ah! And here is the clever creator of the Queen of Mean!” he gushed as Medusa came up to the counter too. “Congratulations on winning the very first Big D Publications Comicontest!”

  Medusa beamed at him. “Thanks! I’m so happy I won!” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dionysus’s eyebrows rise at the mention of the Queen of Mean. But she didn’t take time to explain. He’d understand the title of her collection as soon as he read one of her comics.

  “I have your entry right here,” Mr. Dolos said. Turning from the counter, he plucked a bright yellow-and-black-checkered dr
awstring bag, made from fabric that matched his tunic, from a shelf behind him. He emptied the bag onto the counter. All ten of Medusa’s comic scrolls rolled out.

  “May I?” asked Dionysus, picking up one of them.

  When Medusa nodded, he eagerly unrolled it and began to read. She held her breath, hoping he’d like it.

  “I can hardly wait to display these in the store’s window,” Mr. Dolos said, drawing her attention. “I am absitively posolutely certain that customers will find them very entertaining!” After digging around under the counter, he produced a printed sheet of papyrus. “But first I’ll need you to sign this permissions letter.”

  Just then Dionysus laughed out loud. “Ha!” he said. “A magic cheese! I love it!”

  Smiling at his response, Medusa read through the permissions letter carefully. It was easy to do, since the letter was short:

  I, THE UNDERSIGNED, GRANT BIG D PUBLICATIONS THE RIGHT TO DISPLAY MY COMIC-SCROLL COLLECTION FOR A LIMITED TIME IN THE WINDOW OF THE IMMORTAL MARKETPLACE’S BE A HERO STORE.

  There was a space for her signature at the bottom of the letter. Confused, she flipped the letter over, but the other side was blank. “Where’s the part about publication?” she asked. “Is there a page missing?”

  “Publication?” echoed Mr. Dolos. “No, nothing’s missing.” He handed her a feather quill pen. “Perhaps you misunderstood. The grand prize is having your comics displayed in my store’s window. Just think of all the people who will see them!”

  Medusa’s heart sank. “But you used the name Big D Publications,” she pointed out. “You offered a contract. So I thought the prize would be a publishing contract, not just display rights.” Her snakes, who’d been dozing peacefully at the back of her neck, awoke abruptly. Sensing her disappointment, and that Mr. Dolos was the source of it, they darted their heads toward him, flicking their tongues and hissing.

  Hearing them, Dionysus looked up from the comic-scroll he’d been reading. He frowned at Mr. Dolos, who gulped. “Is there a problem?” Dionysus asked.