Aphrodite the Beauty Read online

  Athena nodded, grinning. “I’d like to see that!”

  “Hey!” said Artemis, looking a little worried. “Aphrodite doesn’t need any more matchmaking ideas.”

  Aphrodite cocked her head. “Sure I do.” Then she smiled over at the hopeful centaur. Yes, boys could be annoying, but some of them were also sweet. “I’ll dance with you,” she said. “Are you any good?”

  The godboy grinned. “I think so.” He stamped his hooves.

  “Don’t believe him!” Poseidon yelled. “Can’t you see he’s got two left feet?” The boys started laughing and began good-naturedly tussling on the ground.

  Athena shook her head at their silliness. “Godboys will be godboys,” she said dryly.

  “You can say that again,” Artemis agreed.

  Persephone grinned. “You can’t take the boy out of the godboy that’s for sure.”

  “And would we really want to if we could?” asked Aphrodite. Then she called out, “See you at the dance, guys!” Her smile dazzled the entire group, leaving them all rooted to the spot with their mouths hanging open.

  “Like I said, looks like things are back to normal,” Artemis teased. Persephone and Athena grinned.

  Aphrodite laughed. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Linking arms with her friends, the four of them climbed the steps to the academy’s front doors.

  ON SILVER-WINGED MAGIC SANDALS, ARTEMIS zoomed through the Forest of the Beasts, her feet gliding just inches above the mossy forest floor. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she singsonged under her breath.

  Dodging tree trunks and ducking under low-hanging vines, she listened carefully for any unusual sounds. Her keen dark eyes searched the dense woods. Her favorite bow—its limbs made of curved, polished olive wood—was at the ready. A tooled leather quiver of arrows was slung across her back. She could pull one out and have it nocked and aimed in a split second, as soon as it was needed. Behind her, Artemis heard Athena whizzing along in winged sandals as well. And following her were Aphrodite and Persephone. All four goddessgirls wore ankle-length flowing gowns called chitons, and their skirts whipped in the breeze as they zipped through the forest of olive, fig, and pomegranate trees, their feet never quite touching the earth.

  They had come here this afternoon for one purpose: to duel with some of the slimiest, smelliest beasts ever to roam the Earth. Armed with magic-tipped arrows, the goddessgirls had already defeated a she-dragon called Echidna and bested a goat-headed Chimera. Now they had only ten minutes left to find the third beast they were tracking.

  Winning this one final battle of good versus evil was critical. Something very important hung in the balance.

  Their grades.

  The first Friday of every month, all the goddessgirls and godboys in their Beast-ology class left Mount Olympus Academy and came down to Earth. Here in this forest, for an entire hour, they played games of skill that Professor Ladon had created to test them. How lucky that she and her best friends were in the same class and that they’d all been assigned to this section of the woods!

  Defeating three beasts today would mean an A for each of the four girls. Getting only two was a B, one a C, and coming up empty meant having to repeat the test until they got it right. Artemis had never ever gotten less than an A in the Beast-ology games, and she didn’t want this to be an exception. Today was her birthday, after all. Another A would be the perfect gift to herself.

  As she entered the clearing, Artemis heard a snuffling sound. The gray-green leaves of a nearby grove of olive trees rustled, disturbing finches and warblers, which flew away in a great flutter of wings. She slowed, motioning silently to her friends to alert them that something was up.

  “It’s lurking. Over there!” Artemis called softly as the others drew up beside her. Just then the wind changed direction, and she got a whiff of the creature. Ugh. It smelled like swamp gas, wet dog, and cow patties all rolled into one.

  Persephone groaned and fanned her hand in front of her naturally pale face, causing the bangs of her curly red hair to flutter. “Doesn’t exactly smell like flowers, does it?” A skilled gardener, she could make anything bloom at the touch of a finger.

  Athena wrinkled her nose. “Maybe like skunkweed.”

  “I hope it doesn’t turn out to be something that slings slime this time,” whispered Aphrodite. Flipping her long, shiny blond hair over one shoulder, she touched the gold braid edging the neckline of her chiton. “This outfit is new and I don’t want it ruined.” The goddessgirl of beauty, she had an outfit for every occasion. This one was a bright robin’s egg blue that matched her eyes. Circling her slender waist was a belt made of woven grapevines. Since Aphrodite set most fashion trends at Mount Olympus Academy, every goddessgirl at school would probably be wearing a belt just like it before the week was out.

  Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. The ground shook as the beast lumbered closer. Goose bumps rose on Artemis’s arms. She’d rather eat a scarab beetle than admit it aloud, but she was scared. Because she was goddess of the hunt and was skilled at archery, everyone at school assumed she was brave. Her friends depended on her to lead them in these hunts. Even now the others were waiting for her to tell them what kind of beast they’d found. And she had a hunch she knew what it was!

  Raising her left hand overhead, she held up one finger. Then, after a moment’s pause, two fingers. Another pause. Three fingers. And finally, four. Then, holding up her other hand she showed two more fingers to make six in all. This signaled to the others that they’d probably found a one-headed, two-armed, three-bodied, four-winged, six-legged beast. Just in case they hadn’t gotten the message, she silently mouthed the beast’s name: Geryon.

  At the news, Athena got the determined look on her face that she always got just before taking a test she wanted to ace. Persephone pinched her nose closed, as if preparing for the worst smell ever to get even worse as their opponent came closer. And Aphrodite glanced down at her stylish blue chiton, looking more than a trifle concerned.

  Seconds later a giant creature jumped out of the woods into the clearing. At the sight of it, goose bumps rose on top of the goose bumps Artemis already had. The Geryon was big. It was bad. It was beastly. It looked just like the one in her Beast-ology textscroll that the Greek hero Heracles had fought in a famous battle known as the Tenth Labor.

  Although she loved to hunt, she wished they’d shoot at regular targets. Sometimes the beasts Professor Ladon designed for these tests seemed so . . . so real. She had a hard time remembering they were fake.

  “You called this one right as usual,” confirmed Athena from behind her. “Watch out, the class textscroll says they have particularly vicious talons and wily ways.”

  “And bad breath,” added Aphrodite, holding her nose now along with Persephone.

  The Geryon licked its green lips, eyeing them each in turn. Then it turned and waggled its three rear ends so its trio of long tails swept back and forth in the leaves. “Nah nah nuh nah nah,” it taunted softly. All the while, its blazing red eyes watched them over its shoulder to see if they’d take the bait and move closer. When they didn’t, it held a hand toward them. It poked one foreclaw out and curled it over and over, beckoning them to follow it into the intricate maze of bushes beyond it known as the labyrinth. There was rumored to be some sort of fantastical beast-making machine in the center, which Professor Ladon had specially designed to spawn their opponents for these games.

  “Ye gods,” Athena whispered. “Does it really think we’ll fall for that?”

  “No way we’re following it into that maze,” Artemis agreed, her voice shaking. Then, worried that her words might have sounded cowardly, she added in a confident voice, “Let’s try to lure it closer. I’d like to get a good shot at that big green patoot.”

  JOAN HOLUB is the award-winning author of more than one hundred and twenty-five books for young readers, including Shampoodle, Knuckleheads, Groundhog Weather School, Why Do Dogs Bark? and the Doll Hospital chapter book series. 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! Visit her at joanholub.com.

  SUZANNE WILLIAMS is the award-winning author of almost thirty books for children, including Library Lil, Mommy Doesn’t Know My Name, My Dog Never Says Please, 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. Like Persephone, she also loves flowers, but she doesn’t have Persephone’s green thumb. Suzanne lives in Renton, Washington. Visit her at suzanne-williams.com.

  Aladdin / Simon & Schuster, New York

  Cover designed by Karin Paprocki

  Cover illustration copyright © 2010 by Glen Hanson

  Ages 8–12

  Meet the author, watch videos, and get extras at

  KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com

  READ THE OTHER BOOKS IN THE GODDESS GIRLS SERIES

  Athena the Brain

  Persephone the Phony

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

  ALADDIN

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

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  First Aladdin paperback edition August 2010

  Copyright © 2010 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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  Designed by Karin Paprocki

  The text of this book was set in Baskerville.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2009034948

  ISBN 978-1-4169-8273-9

  ISBN 978-1-4424-0715-2 (eBook)

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