Pandora Gets Lazy (26 page)

“Uh, ‘duh'?”

“That's it! Duh!”

“Are you going to stay with us?” Pandy asked.

“Let me put it this way. I'll be there, and I'll know you're you, but don't look to me for help of any kind until and only if you're ready to come back.”

“Oh!” gasped Iole suddenly.

Hermes stared at her for a second.

“You have it, don't you?” he asked.

“Mount Pelion . . . thirteen hundred years ago,” she started.

“Give or take,” Hermes said casually.

“Oh! Oh! And they're
all
going to be here?”

“What? Who!” Alcie cried, whacking Iole on her arm.

“Almost all,” said Hermes, smiling. “Someone's missing. But then, you knew that, didn't you?”

“Iole?” Pandy said, looking at her quizzically.

“Enough gab,” Hermes said. “Time's a'wasting, and how. Everybody grab a little piece of my toga—don't get fresh—and we'll be off.”

Pandy, Alcie, Iole, and Homer each pinched a small amount of the silver fabric and instinctively braced themselves for a whirlwind journey back through time. Alcie and Iole hunched over as if preparing to face a horrible hurricane. Pandy clutched her pouch to her chest and planted her feet firmly on the ground. Homer grabbed his cloak with his free hand and closed his eyes, head down.

“Alcie, Iole . . . what are you doing?” Hermes asked.

“We're hanging on. Won't there be wind . . . or something?” Alcie yelled.

Pandy, looking at her toes, saw a small shift, a subtle repositioning of the stones on the ground around her feet. She noticed that the birds that had been singing were silenced, and a small white boulder had materialized on a patch of grass off to her left . . . and then nothing.

“You four are crazy!” Hermes laughed. “You look like you're about to be attacked! It's done. We're there.”

“That's it?” Pandy asked, looking around.

“That's it,” Hermes said.

“I just thought there would be . . . wind,” Alcie said, standing up straight.

“You're . . . ,” Pandy began.

“I'm what? Fabulous?” Hermes asked.

“No. I mean, yes! But you're
helping
.” Pandy's voice dropped to a whisper on the last word.

“I did, and I might again,” Hermes said. “Now don't blow it by asking a lot of questions.”

The forest surrounding them was essentially the same. Some trees were taller, some were smaller, and some were new. There was a different cloud formation in the sky, but there was no other marked visible difference.

“I'm off,” Hermes said, then pointed east. “Your way lies down that road. Remember, change nothing.”

He stepped back and Pandy thought he was about to disappear when he stopped and turned to Iole.

“You're kidding, right?”

Iole's mouth fell open and then she looked down at the ground.

“I'm sorry.”

“At a time like this,
that's
what you're thinking about?” Hermes asked. I would have expected that of Alcie, not you.”

“Huh?” Alcie said.

“I'm sorry,” Iole said again.

“A deal is a deal, Iole. It doesn't matter that I probably can't use it. So, no, you can't have the bracelet back.”

Iole nodded.

Hermes shook his head and disappeared in a bright white flash.

“Nice going, Miss I-Can- Give-Away-My-Presents,” Alcie said after a pause. “Now he hates us!”

“No he doesn't, Alcie. Quit it,” Pandy said. “Iole, what in Zeus's name is going on? What do you know?”

“Did either of you
ever
pay attention when Master Epeus was teaching ancient Greek history?
Ever?
Thirteen hundred years ago, Zeus was in love with the goddess Thetis. Hera found out about it and got so angry that not only did she force Zeus to stop seeing Thetis, she made Zeus give Thetis to a mortal man as his wife.”

“Oh, yeah! I was awake for this,” Pandy cried. “King Peleus! Whose palace is . . . was . . . is on Mount Pelion!”

“Correct!” Iole continued. “It was a huge celebration to which all the gods and goddesses were invited.”

“Except one,” Pandy said.

“Correct again. And if my guess is right, today is the big—”

“Do you think you have been hired to simply stand around!”

A shrill voice, like the sound of a horn, high and off-key, pierced the quiet of the forest. Pandy, Alcie, Iole, and Homer whipped their heads around.

Then their jaws dropped.

 

 

 

 

 

MYTHIC MISADVENTURES
BY CAROLYN HENNESY

Pandora Gets Jealous
Pandora Gets Vain
Pandora Gets Lazy
Pandora Gets Heart

 

 

 

Copyright © 2009 by Carolyn Hennesy

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

First published in the United States of America in April 2009
by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers
E-book edition published in August 2010
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

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Hennesy, Carolyn.
Pandora gets lazy / by Carolyn Hennesy.—1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Summary: On their way to find the third evil, laziness, Pandy and her friends, Alcie, Iole,
and Homer, face many dangers after Pandy falls from Apollo's chariot and her friends
are captured by pirates who intend to sell them into slavery.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59990-198-5 • ISBN-10: 1-59990-198-6 (hardcover)
1. Pandora (Greek mythology)—Juvenile fiction. [1. Pandora (Greek mythology)—
Fiction. 2. Mythology, Greek—Fiction. 3. Gods, Greek—Fiction. 4. Goddesses, Greek—
Fiction. 5. Adventures and adventurers—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.H3917Paq 2009               [Fic]—dc22               2008034855

ISBN 978-1-59990-606-5 (e-book)