Pandora the Curious Read online

  “If you really want to thank us,” Epimetheus blurted, “maybe you could release my brother from liver punishment.”

  “That’s only fair,” Pandora put in, hoping to help convince Zeus.

  “Because the fire wasn’t actually Prometheus’s fault,” added Athena.

  Aphrodite nodded. “Yeah. He was under a bubble spell too.”

  “A ‘thief’ one,” said Persephone.

  “Consider it done,” said Zeus. “Prometheus, I hereby shorten your punishment from an entire life of liver-eating to time served thus far.”

  “Yes!” Prometheus punched a jubilant fist in the air.

  At the same time, the sound of flapping wings came from somewhere in the distance. Zeus’s eagle-eyed eagle was returning to the forest now that it was no longer needed.

  Zeus threw back his shoulders now, full of his old energy again. “Well, I’m off to restore things to normal down on Earth,” he said. “As you noted, those mortals need fire—the controlled kind.” He looked at the Titans. “Want to help me deliver it?” he asked.

  Epimetheus and Prometheus nodded eagerly.

  “Excellent! Afterward we can pay a visit to the Underworld and have a chat with your dad. We’ll see if we can smooth things over between us all.”

  The boys seemed to brighten at this. Pandora knew it must mean that, deep down, they cared about their dad, in spite of their disagreement over the box.

  As everyone began to go their separate ways, Epimetheus drew Pandora aside. To her surprise, he took both of her hands in his, his expression earnest.

  “Well, I guess this is good-bye, at least for a while,” he told her. “I didn’t want to leave without saying—” He paused as if searching for the right word.

  “Saying what?” She braced herself, unsure if he was going to say something kind or be critical.

  “Just that I don’t think you give yourself enough credit,” he told her. “You’re curious. And I think that’s a good thing.”

  “But curiosity can also get you into trouble,” Pandora said. “Like this week.”

  “Well, I hope you’ll use yours in ways that don’t from now on,” he said. This time they both grinned over his use of the word “hope.”

  He kept one of her hands in his as, together, they left the grove and headed for the courtyard. A warm feeling spread through her as they walked.

  So this is what it feels like to hold hands with a boy you like, Pandora thought. It was nice. Really nice. And she did like Epimetheus, she realized. He got her.

  It seemed hard to remember what she’d ever seen in Poseidon. Because now that she thought about it, that turquoise godboy was both drippy and dippy!

  When they reached the courtyard, Epimetheus gave her fingers a light squeeze. His gray-green eyes smiled into her pale blue ones. “See you,” he murmured.

  “See you,” she replied, smiling back at him.

  Then he was stepping away. Pandora watched as he, Prometheus, and Zeus prepared for takeoff in the Titan balloon.

  “Woo-hoo!” Zeus shouted as they lifted off. He seemed as excited as a little kid to be going for a ride in it. Epimetheus sent her a big wave once they were airborne, and she waved back.

  And just like that, he and his brother were gone from MOA.

  14

  Judges

  WE’D BETTER GET BACK TO OUR TABLES,” SAID Athena. “Pythagoras and the others are making their rounds and will be judging soon.”

  “They’re just now starting?” Pandora asked. She’d completely lost track of time and had thought the judging must already be over. Was it possible she still had a chance to keep from getting an incomplete?

  Quickly she borrowed some art supplies from the goddessgirls, found an empty table, and began designing a poster. It was hard work, and she was doing it alone. Still, remembering Epimetheus’s encouraging words, she felt buoyed to try her best. If she succeeded, her project would explain the events of the past week to all the students at MOA better than her own words could.

  Before long she’d finished her poster and set out the hero statues that she and the Titans had made. Including the sooty one that had burned in the fire.

  She finished in the nick of time, just as the judges arrived at her table. Hoping for a good outcome, she calmly explained her project to them, gesturing to each point on her poster in turn.

  1. QUESTION - IS CURIOSITY A GOOD THING OR A BAD THING?

  2. RESEARCH - I OPENED A MYSTERY BOX TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS INSIDE. OUR TEAM WENT TO EARTH TO ASK MORTALS WHAT THEY NEED.

  3. HYPOTHESIS - CURIOSITY IS A GOOD THING. AND A BAD THING.

  Her project went on to tell about the trouble bubbles, the Hero-ology fire, and how everything had gone awry. Then her conclusion wrapped things up.

  6. CONCLUSION- CURIOSITY WAS HELPFUL IN FINDING OUT WHAT MORTALS NEED. BUT IT CAUSED TROUBLE WHEN I OPENED THE MYSTERY BOX. YET QUESTIONING THE UNKNOWN WILL ALWAYS BE A TEMPTATION TO THE CURIOUS, RIGHT? I HOPE SO!

  • • •

  That night in bed Pandora rolled onto her side. “You still awake?” she called softly toward Athena’s bed across the room.

  “Um-hmm,” said Athena. “What’s the matter? Can’t sleep?”

  “It’s just that there’s one thing I’m still curious about,” said Pandora.

  “No! You—curious? About what?” Athena replied in a teasing voice. It was almost the same thing she’d said to Pandora that day she’d first opened the mystery box.

  Pandora smiled to herself, then spilled what was on her mind. “Epimetheus told me that an oracle had prophesied that a girl would open the box. Why me? Why was I able to break the lock on the box when no one else except Zeus could?”

  “Who knows?” said Athena. “An oracle’s prophecies are never entirely clear. Maybe some mysteries just aren’t meant to be solved.”

  Pandora nodded, forgetting that Athena couldn’t see her in the dark. She was starting to doze off, when Athena murmured, “So did I do anything horribly embarrassing this week?”

  “Are you sure you want to know?” asked Pandora.

  “I think so,” said Athena, though she didn’t sound quite sure.

  “Well, you kept getting lost in the halls,” Pandora told her. “And you went to parties and giggled a lot. And you forgot how to spell and count. And I think you’re going to have to ask for a new Spell-ology textscroll. Because you cut paper dolls out of your old one.”

  “Stop! You’re kidding, right? Did I actually do all that?”

  “Hey! Would I lie?” Pandora asked. “I’m not Pythagoras, you know.”

  They both giggled.

  Just then there was a tap on their window. One of the magic breezes that delivered packages and letters to MOA was waiting outside.

  “A message!” said Athena. She jumped up and went to open the window.

  “So late?” asked Pandora, getting out of bed too.

  “It’s a box for you,” said Athena, handing it to her. “And a letter. From Epimetheus.”

  “Awesome!” Excited now, Pandora ripped the letter open first. By the light of the moon shining through the window, she read it aloud:

  DEAR PANDORA,

  Our Dad isn’t so mad anymore. Zeus calmed HIM down. They talked, and maybe they’ll be friends someday. We’re going to go live with our uncle again and can visit dad now and then.

  Well, I Hope you write back.

  Meanwhile, I sent you something to remember me by. A box. And don’t worry—it’s perfectly safe to open it.

  EPIMETHEUS

  Pandora set his letter aside and shook the box. “It sounds sloshy. I wonder what it could be?”

  “Only one way to find out,” said Athena.

  Swiftly Pandora unwrapped the box, which was about ten inches tall. Though she was curious about what it contained, she paused before she peeked inside. Epimetheus had said it was safe to open, and she trusted him to tell the truth. Still, she couldn’t help being a bit nervous after what had happened when s
he’d opened his other box.

  She took a deep breath. “Well, here goes!” She opened the box and pulled out . . .

  “A bottle?” she said in surprise. She unscrewed its lid and looked inside. She sniffed. Then she read the label and started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Athena asked.

  Pandora held the bottle up so Athena could read the label. “It’s full of . . .” Pandora was laughing so hard, she could hardly get the words out. “Of bubble bath.”

  They both began to giggle like crazy, falling onto the floor, where they giggled some more.

  When their laughter finally slowed, Pandora set the bottle on the shelf above her desk. Right next to her Science-ology textscroll. Just a few hours ago she’d erased the P and P letters she’d doodled on it before and replaced them with the intertwined letters P and E.

  She had a new crush now. One who sent her funny presents and who got her. One who even liked that she was curious!

  • • •

  The following Monday, another, more official-looking letter arrived for Pandora during lunch. Everyone turned to look as a magic breeze whirled it across the cafeteria to plop it onto her table.

  Her jaw dropped and her eyes got big when she read it. She immediately jumped up and ran over to the popular table.

  “Guess what?” she told Athena. “My Science-ology fair project won first prize? Lunch with all three judges? Including Pythagoras?” As usual, her excitement was making her speak in questions.

  “Wow! Epic news!” said a voice behind her. Pheme had followed her and overheard. Now she dashed off, running from table to table to spread the word.

  But Pandora didn’t mind a bit. She’d proven her scientific smarts to the judges, and thanks to Pheme, soon the whole Academy would know about it. Including Poseidon. Ha!

  “Congratulations,” Athena told Pandora, sounding happy for her. “I’m glad you won. When’s the lunch?”

  “Today. A chariot’s coming for us in an hour.”

  “Us?”

  “Yeah. I get to choose someone to come with me. Don’t you want to go to lunch with Pythagoras, Aristotle, Hippocrates, and me?” Pandora asked her.

  Athena’s enthusiastic squeal practically burst everyone’s eardrums. “You’re taking me?”

  At Pandora’s nod Athena jumped from her chair and bounced on her toes. “You are the best roomie ever!” She gave Pandora a huge hug.

  Pandora grinned at her. “C’mon. Let’s get going. There’s a lot we can learn from those scientists. But our questions aren’t going to ask themselves!”

  JOAN HOLUB is the award-winning author of more than one hundred and thirty books for young readers, including Zero the Hero, Vincent van Gogh: Sunflowers and Swirly Stars, and Shampoodle. Of the four goddessgirls, she’s probably most like Athena because she loves to think up new ideas for books. But she’s very glad her dad was never the principal of her school! She lives in North Carolina. Visit her at joanholub.com.

  SUZANNE WILLIAMS is the award-winning author of more than thirty-five books for young readers, including Library Lil, Ten Naughty Little Monkeys, and the Princess Power and Fairy Blossoms series. Her husband says she’s the Goddess of Annoying Questions. (Most having to do with why her computer misbehaves.) That makes her kind of like Pandora, except that Pandora never had to deal with computers. Suzanne lives near Seattle in Washington State. Visit her at suzanne-williams.com.

  Aladdin / Simon & Schuster, New York

  Cover designed by Karin Paprocki

  Cover illustration copyright © 2012 by Glen Hanson

  Ages 8–12

  Meet the author, watch videos, and get extras at

  KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com

  READ ALL THE BOOKS IN THE GODDESS GIRLS SERIES

  ATHENA THE BRAIN

  PERSEPHONE THE PHONY

  APHRODITE THE BEAUTY

  ARTEMIS THE BRAVE

  ATHENA THE WISE

  APHRODITE THE DIVA

  ARTEMIS THE LOYAL

  MEDUSA THE MEAN

  GODDESS GIRLS SUPER SPECIAL:

  THE GIRL GAMES

  COMING SOON:

  PHEME THE GOSSIP

  PERSEPHONE THE DARING

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the authors’ imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

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  First Aladdin hardcover edition December 2012

  Copyright © 2012 by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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  Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.

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  Designed by Karin Paprocki

  The text of this book was set in Baskerville Handcut Regular.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2012942889

  ISBN 978-1-4424-5975-5 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4424-4935-0 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4424-4936-7 (eBook)