Pandora Gets Greedy (25 page)

At that instant, the spinning rings aligned and the familiar light illuminated three symbols; words, once again, in Greek.

“Fear,” Alcie sighed. “The big one. Well, we knew it was coming.”

“What does that say?” Iole asked. “The ring that tells us where we're going? Hold it steady, Alce, I can't read what …”

“‘Nine,' what?” said Alcie.

“‘Nine Days Down,'” Pandy replied, her voice catching slightly.

“Huh?” said Homer.

“Oh, no,” said Iole.

“Oh, yes,” retorted Pandy.

“
What?
” cried Alcie.

“Alcie, when I went up to Olympus it took nine days to get there, remember?”

“Well, I didn't exactly go
with
you, but yes I do recall.”

“What's nine days in the opposite direction?” Pandy asked.

Alcie's eyes narrowed as she thought, then she gasped before throwing her head back with a laugh.

“We don't even know how to get there,” Homer whispered.

“But,” said Alcie. “But this is
fantastic
!”

“Her mind is officially gone,” said Iole.

“Don't you get it?” Alcie said, picking Iole up and whirling her around. “They
love
me down there. I know people who know people! Persephone is, like, my
immortal
best friend. And I know my way around. I can give you a whole tour. We'll start with the food-preparation rooms. Snail custard! Wahooooooooooo!”

“But we don't know how to get there without, y'know,
dying
,” Homer said.

“Of course we do,” said Iole. “The same way Orpheus did. He lived in Thrace. We'll go to Thrace.”

“We'll follow the path he followed when he tried to bring his wife, Eurydice, back from the dead,” Pandy agreed.

“It's a cave somewhere on the side of a mountain, or so I've read,” Iole said.

“Underworld, here we come!” said Alcie.

“Weeks away, no matter how we go,” Pandy said. “And how much time do we have left?”

“We have twenty-nine days,” said Homer.

“And we know we're gonna be minus nine to begin with. That's already nine days less …”

“Less than …,” Alcie began.

“… one full moon. Essentially, we'll have twenty days,” Iole finished.

Pandy took the bowl out of Alcie's hands and tossed the contents. Wincing slightly, she stowed the map back in her pouch and strode toward the door to the garden.

“Then I guess we'd better get moving,” she said, pausing only to gaze down at Caesar, who had tried to remain calm and observing during the events in the food-preparation room. “This man,” she said, pointing to Valerius, “was under an enchantment when he tried to kill you. He has been under that enchantment and not … uh … Iole?”

“I'm going with blameworthy.”

“Thank you, blameworthy for his behavior for the last few weeks. You will not punish him in any way or allow anyone else to punish him or anyone else in his household—except maybe his daughter. Is that clear?”

Caesar looked at Pandy evenly.

“Clear,” he said sincerely. “You have my word.”

“Groovy,” said Pandy. “We're off.”

With Dido at their side, Pandy, Alcie, Iole, and Homer walked quickly along the eastern road. At one point, they passed an insula and heard screams of pain coming from a room high above, piercing the morning quiet. Then the sounds of several slaps of a hand on what had to be bare skin.

“I am not getting any enjoyment from this, my little fish fillet,” came Zeus's unmistakable voice.

Slap.

Scream.

“Now you know this is strictly for your own good,” Jupiter's voice carried onto the road below.

Slap.

Scream.

All of a sudden, Hera and Juno's brilliant red behinds, complete with handprints, flashed in the window as
they both tried to escape their joint monumental spanking.

“Oooooooh,” said Pandy, with a laugh.

“Thank you, I won't be eating for days!” Alcie cried.

“Immortal posteriors,” said Iole thoughtfully. “I don't know many humans who can say they've seen those.”

“And lived,” agreed Homer.

“Hera's just going to add it to the list,” Pandy said, exiting the city proper and heading out onto the open road. “ ‘You saw my butt, now I really have to kill you!'”

“You saw her butt?” came a voice from under a nearby tree.

Everyone halted.

“Sounds like something that might be interesting. But upon further reflection …”

“Crispus!” Iole cried, flinging herself into his arms.

“Leaving without me?” he said, hugging her tightly.

“Our little girl is growing up,” Alcie whispered to Pandy.

“Flying the nest,” Pandy said, with a grin.

“I didn't know where you were to say good-bye,” Iole said.

“Why good-bye?” Crispus said. “Why can't I come with you?”

Iole looked at Pandy, Alcie, and Homer. No one said a word; Crispus had proved himself beyond useful and very trustworthy.

“I have gold,” Crispus said, producing a bag full of the aureus. “Okay, yes, I stole this if you want to get technical about it, but I
can
pay my way.”

“You can pay for all of us,” said Homer.

“I say yes,” Pandy said.

“Works for me,” Alcie agreed, nodding.

“Then it's settled,” Crispus said, moving to relieve Iole of the burden of her pouch.

“And I say no,” Iole said.

Crispus's face nearly fell onto the road, but before he had another chance to protest, Iole held her finger to his lips.

“Crispus, you should know that I simply adore you, and I don't care who hears it,” she said, glancing at Alcie. “But …”

“But what?” he said.

“You're six.”

And the horrible truth registered on everyone's face.

“At some point, either very soon or when we get to Greece,” Iole went on, “Hermes will shift us once again into our correct time, and I'll stay the same, but you'll be six years old. As much as I want this to work, it never would.”

Crispus said nothing for a long time, he only fought to keep his chin and his upper lip steady.

“You're not a Vestal anymore, right?” he asked finally, looking off into the distance.

“Correct.”

“Then, when I am sixteen,” he said, his voice low and steady, “you won't mind if I sail to Athens and seek you out, will you?”

“I'll be twenty-three, you
do
understand that?” Iole said, smiling.

“Understand it?” Crispus said, a grin breaking out. “I won't mind if you won't.”

“Then I'll be waiting,” said Iole, and everyone knew she'd be as good as her word. “Would you like the gold back?”

“No,” Crispus said. “Keep it. Use it. Except, save a single coin for me when I see you.”

“Thank you. I will.”

Waving to Crispus until they crested a ridge and he disappeared from view, the four friends walked east for a bit, then changed direction and headed west when Iole casually mentioned that the Tyrrhenian Sea was a comparatively short walking distance away from Rome. A ship would be easy to find and, with any luck, Hera's bruised bottom would keep her preoccupied with exacting revenge upon her husband long enough not to bother with them as they sailed homeward, for the final time, to Greece.

Names, pronunciations, and further descriptions of gods, Demigods, other integral immortals, places, objects, terms, and fictional personages appearing within these pages. Definitions derived from three primary sources: Edith Hamilton's
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
; Webster's Online Dictionary, which derives many of its definitions from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (further sources are also indicated on this Web site); and the author's own brain.

entourage
(ahn-TOOR-ahge): a group following or attending to some person (important or otherwise).

Iugula
(eew-GEW-la): a Latin term meaning “kill him!”

Kraken
(CRACK-en): a sea monster. Sometimes it resembles an island, sometimes an octopus. It is most commonly found in Scandinavian lore.

pollicem premere
(POHL-issum PREE-murh): a Latin term translating to “to press the thumbs,” which meant to spare a life.

proscription
(pro-SKRIP-shun): the act of dooming to death or exile; a decree that prohibits or condemns something or someone.

taper
(TAY-purr): a candle.

tempus fugit
(TEM-puss FEW-jit): a Latin term meaning “time flees.” In modern usage, this is more commonly translated as “time flies.”

una malorum semper
(OOOH-nah mal-OR-umm SEM-per): Latin for “one of the worst evils EVER.”

Thanks to Scott Hennesy, Stephanie Erb, Melanie Mohr, Sydney Cahill, and Caroline Abbey. As always, special thanks and love to Sara Schedeen.

Mythic Misadventures By Carolyn Hennesy

Pandora Gets Jealous
Pandora Gets Vain
Pandora Gets Lazy
Pandora Gets Heart
Pandora Gets Angry
Pandora Gets Greedy

Copyright © 2012 by Carolyn Hennesy
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.

This electronic edition published in 2012

First published in the United States of America in June 2012
by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers
www.bloomsburykids.com

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hennesy, Carolyn.

Pandora gets greedy / by Carolyn Hennesy. —1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.

Summary: Pandy, Alcie, Iole, and Homer travel to Rome to search for another
deadly evil—greed—and encounter Julius Caesar, and the Roman gods.
1. Pandora (Greek mythology)—Juvenile fiction. [1. Pandora (Greek mythology)—Fiction. 2. Mythology, Greek—Fiction. 3. Gods, Greek—Fiction. 4. Goddesses, Greek—Fiction. 5. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.H3917Paf 2012      [Fic]—dc23      2011049758

ISBN 978 1 5999 0826 7 (e-book)