Pegasus and the New Olympians (2 page)

Their eyes were drawn back to where a satyr had broken free of the giant guard and was rushing with the ball towards Joel’s team’s goal. As she neared the net, Paelen appeared from the left to block the kick. But the satyr was faster and ducked away from him. With a second quick dart, she kicked the ball between the Nirad’s four arms and it entered the net.

The crowd exploded with excitement and stood cheering. Emily looked around and smiled ruefully at the Olympians. She glanced back to her father. ‘I don’t think they fully understand the concept of supporting one side or the other. Everyone celebrates when there is a goal – it doesn’t matter which team made it.’

Her father nodded his head. ‘Maybe they’ve got the right idea. We could use more sportsmanship like that back in our world.’ He focused on Emily again. ‘You love football. Even with your leg brace, you can move just as well as before your leg was hurt. Why aren’t you out there playing?’

Emily hesitated before answering. ‘I didn’t feel like playing today. I wanted to watch with Jupiter so I could explain the rules. Not that anyone actually follows them.’

Emily watched her father’s face, relieved that he accepted her explanation without question. Emily wanted very much to play, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t because she couldn’t trust herself.

Since her return from the Nirad world, where they defeated the gorgons, Emily had mastered the power of the Flame that lived deep within her. She could now control it fully. But recently more powers had surfaced. Powers that went beyond the Flame. Where objects moved by themselves, or sometimes, if she became very frustrated or upset, vanished completely. Vesta hadn’t mentioned more powers. Emily wondered if her teacher even realized there were others. But too many things were happening around her. Until Emily could better understand and control them, she wasn’t going to risk hurting her friends.

The match ended with Joel’s team losing by one goal. A celebratory banquet was planned for later that evening. Emily walked with her father and Pegasus back to the apartment they shared with Joel and Paelen at Jupiter’s palace.

‘I am going to tell Jupiter that I don’t think it’s a good idea for Olympians to visit Earth. There are just too many dangers. Our world has changed far too much for them now. They had no idea how different or advanced it is.’

‘But after everything they’ve heard from us, they’re all so anxious to visit,’ Emily insisted.

‘I know,’ he agreed. ‘The big problem is that Olympians aren’t human. Very few of them look even remotely human. Can you imagine what would happen if a centaur or even the Cyclops were to visit our world? In the past, they were accepted as gods, but today …’ He paused and looked back to Pegasus. ‘Look what happened to him in New York.’

Pegasus snorted and nickered loudly. Emily reached over and stroked the stallion’s neck. Memories flashed to the surface of her mind. Pegasus had been shot by the secret government agency the Central Research Unit, and taken to their hidden government facility on Governors Island. The sight of her beloved stallion laying prone on the floor and struggling for each breath caused a stab of pain in her heart, even now.

Emily looked back at her father and nodded. ‘It wasn’t just Pegasus who was hurt. Look what the CRU did to Cupid. Their helicopters nearly killed him, despite Olympians being immortal. If they stop eating ambrosia, they become vulnerable and it’s too easy for them to get hurt.’

‘Or captured,’ her father added. ‘Personally, I don’t think it’s a good idea at all. I’m going to tell Jupiter this. Olympians are an amazing people and I don’t want to see anything happen to them.’

As they continued to walk down the tranquil, cobbled road, the clopping sound of Pegasus’s golden hooves was the only thing to disturb the calm of Olympus. After a long silence, Emily’s father spoke again.

‘Your Aunt Maureen sends her love.’

‘You saw her?’

He shook his head. ‘There were CRU agents posted around her building; we couldn’t get near her. But I did call and tell her we are fine. She asked a lot of questions, but I’m sure her line is bugged. So I told her we’re in hiding but together and safe.’

‘I wish we could see her again,’ Emily said wistfully.

‘Me too,’ her father agreed. ‘Maybe one day soon we can go back for a real visit. Just you and me.’

Emily brightened. ‘That would be wonderful.’

When they arrived at their apartment, Emily’s eyes flew wide at the assortment of gifts her father and Diana had brought back for her, Joel and Paelen: clothes, music and some of Emily’s favourite snacks like salted peanuts and her real weakness, marshmallows. There was even an assortment of chocolate bars just for Paelen.

Emily noticed a stack of newspapers. She had never been interested in the news when she lived in New York, but now that she was living in Olympus permanently, she craved to learn what was happening in her city.

Top of the pile was
The New York Times
. A photograph on the front page caught her attention.

Was that Pegasus?

Emily immediately snatched it up, curious.

Yes, it was definitely Pegasus – but without wings!

She read the caption under the photograph.

Record Breaker!
Tornado Warning wins Triple Crown
with greatest time and distance every recorded
…

‘Tornado Warning?’ Emily muttered aloud as she read the article about the winning horse breaking every record in the history of horse racing.

‘Look at that face,’ her father said lightly. ‘He looks just like Pegasus, doesn’t he? His body and legs are darker grey, but if he were all white, it could have been Pegasus. Tornado Warning is everywhere and causing quite a stir. They haven’t had a Triple Crown winner like him since Secretariat – and Tornado’s even broken his records!’

Emily barely heard the knocking on the door. As her father went to answer it, she continued to scan the article.

‘Pegs, you’ve got to see this.’ Emily held up the newspaper for the stallion. ‘Look at his face. He really does look like you. I mean, you two could be twins!’

When Pegasus looked at the photographs, Emily could sense he was greatly disturbed. Apart from the colour, Tornado Warning was identical. His size and shape were the same. All that was missing were the wings and golden hooves. Emily looked at the stallion. ‘How is this possible?’

‘So you have seen the newspapers.’ Diana had entered the living room and approached Pegasus. ‘Is there something you wish to tell me? Did you get up to some mischief while you were in Emily’s world?’

Pegasus snorted angrily and stamped a golden hoof.

Emily frowned and then shook her head. ‘That’s not possible. Tornado couldn’t be his son. Look here, the papers say Tornado Warning is three years old. But Pegasus only came to our world last year.’

‘But he does look just like you, my friend,’ Diana said softly as she stroked Pegasus’s face. ‘What else could it be?’

Steve shrugged. ‘Maybe he’s just a very handsome horse who happens to look a lot like Pegasus.’

Emily studied her father’s face and realized he didn’t see Pegasus the same way she and the other Olympians did. On the surface, Pegasus
could
look mostly like a horse, but there was a big difference. It was something that she could plainly see, but her father couldn’t. Pegasus was more than a horse, much greater than one. It was in his intelligent eyes and the way he held himself, that created the aura surrounding him that said, ‘
I am not a mere horse
.’

Olympus had many horses and some, like Pegasus, had wings. But none of them were remotely like Pegasus. He was unique – until now.

‘You’re wrong, Dad,’ Emily insisted. ‘Tornado Warning doesn’t just look like Pegasus, he’s identical to him.’

Diana put her arm around Emily and gave her a light squeeze. ‘Well, whatever it is, that horse, Tornado Warning, is in your world while we are all here in Olympus.’ Diana abruptly changed the subject. ‘Now, would you like to try on some of the new clothes that your father and I chose for you?’

Emily looked at Diana and saw there was something the tall woman was not saying aloud. A secret message that said they would speak later. She nodded her head. ‘You’re right. Let’s forget Tornado Warning, I want to see what you’ve brought back.’

While excited preparations were being made to celebrate the closing of Olympus’s first official football match, Emily and Pegasus walked through the fragrant gardens at the back of Jupiter’s palace. The air was warm, sweet and still and the sun was welcoming but not too hot. Birds chirped in the sky and called a greeting at Emily and Pegasus’s approach.

Up ahead lay Jupiter’s maze. This was still the best place Emily and her friends could meet and talk without being seen or disturbed by the other Olympians.

When they reached the centre, they didn’t have long to wait before Joel, Paelen and Pegasus’s brother Chrysaor appeared. Joel’s hair was wet from bathing after the game, slicked back in an effortlessly cool look. Paelen had also bathed to remove the mud and grass stains from the match, but as always his dark hair was unkempt and standing up at odd angles. He was still wearing his winged sandals and had a big grin on his face as he drew near.

‘What’s up?’ Joel asked. ‘What’s the emergency?’

Emily offered the newspapers round. ‘I couldn’t show you these earlier because Dad was in the apartment and doesn’t see the problem. Look at the picture and read the headline …’

Paelen looked from the front page of the newspaper over to Pegasus. His mouth fell open. ‘He looks just like you! What does this say?’

A frown wrinkled Joel’s brow as he read the article. ‘It’s talking about a racehorse, Tornado Warning. He’s just won the Triple Crown.’

‘What is the Triple Crown?’ Paelen asked.

Joel continued. ‘My father was really into horse racing.’ He looked over to Pegasus wistfully. ‘I sure wish he could have met you …’ Joel sighed. ‘He and I used to bet on the Triple Crown. It’s a series of three big horse races that are close together: the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and then finally the Belmont Stakes. It’s really rare for the same horse to win all three. I think the last time was in the nineteen-seventies. But Tornado Warning not only won all three races, he’s beaten all the records.’ Joel paused and looked at Emily. ‘Something doesn’t feel right here. Look at these stats …’ He held up the paper.

Emily peered over and saw a lot of figures she didn’t understand. ‘What’s all that mean?’

‘It means this is impossible. Look at these racing times. He’s got to be the fastest racehorse in history. No horse could run like this.’

‘But he just did,’ Paelen insisted.

Beside them, Chrysaor squealed softly and Paelen lowered the paper so the winged boar could look at the photograph. He grunted and squealed again.

‘I do not understand,’ Paelen asked. ‘How could this racehorse look so much like Pegasus, run as fast as Pegasus and yet not be Pegasus?’

Joel shrugged. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was a—’ A sudden shocked expression appeared on his face and he shook his head. ‘No, it’s not possible. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’

Emily was already frightened. The idea had come to her much earlier and left her chilled to the bone. But it was still the only thing that made any sense.

‘I’m trying really hard not to,’ she said. ‘I asked my dad and he didn’t think so. He said if it were true, Tornado Warning would be white and not grey.’

‘What?’ Paelen asked. ‘What are you both talking about?’

Emily leaned her head against Pegasus and stroked his neck. ‘We’re thinking that the CRU may have had something to do with this.’

Paelen’s jaw dropped. ‘The CRU? How?’

Joel stepped closer to Emily. ‘It’s impossible, isn’t it?’

‘I just don’t know,’ she said. ‘But what else could it be?’

‘We’ve got to go back there to find out,’ Joel finished. ‘Em, if they can actually do it, we’re all in a lot of trouble.’

‘Enough!’ shouted Paelen in frustration. ‘You are both speaking in riddles and it is driving me mad! What you are talking about?’

Joel looked at Paelen. ‘This is going to sound impossible. But we’re thinking that Tornado Warning might be some kind of clone.’

Paelen’s expression didn’t change. Emily realized he didn’t understand. ‘In our world, science is constantly advancing. They are doing amazing things with genetically modifying plants and stuff. What Joel is saying is that while you, Pegasus and Diana were prisoners of the CRU, they tested you and did experiments. They took samples from you.’

Paelen shivered visibly. ‘It was terrible,’ he said softly. ‘They put me in machines, and kept taking my blood, my hair and who knows what else.’

‘Exactly,’ Joel said. ‘And what I’m afraid of is that they have somehow used those samples to create some kind of clone. A clone is something that is identical to you, created from you, but not you. It’s kind of like a twin, but you weren’t born together.’ He crossed over to the stallion and stroked his face. ‘Tornado Warning looks exactly like Pegasus because he might have been created using cells they took from Pegasus.’

Emily’s face went pale. ‘That’s crazy, like something out of a fantasy! But if he were a clone, shouldn’t he be white like Pegasus?’

‘We dyed Pegasus black and brown, remember? What if they are dying Tornado Warning grey?’ Joel suggested. ‘I don’t know if or how they could have done it, but we’ve got to find out. Em, we’re talking about the CRU. We’ve seen their facilities. I’m sure they have the capabilities to do it.’

Emily shook her head. ‘But it doesn’t make any sense. Even if it is possible, why would they race him and risk exposing their experiments? Besides, the newspapers say Tornado Warning is three years old.’

‘I can’t explain it,’ Joel said. ‘But look at those photographs. It’s like Pegasus himself was in those races. Those aren’t the stats of an ordinary horse.’

Pegasus snorted and started to cut deep trenches in the ground. Beside him, Paelen shook his head madly. ‘No, no, no. This is not possible. You can not suggest that this racehorse comes from Pegasus. It is unnatural and impossible!’