29_Lost and Found

Brody dived behind a boulder and so did Julia. Markos flattened himself on the ground nearby. With another blast of thunder, Zeus appeared in the clearing. “ Heracles! ” he exclaimed. “ There you are. Come with me, boy. “ “ Poseidon still doesn’t believe you’re as strong as I say you are. Let’s show him exactly how wrong he is. He’s at the agora right now. ” ” Yes, Zeus. ” Heracles grabbed Iphicles, and then Zeus made the three of them disappear. Brody stood up. “ Okay, why did we have to hide?” he asked, his ears still ringing from all the loud thunder.

Markos stood too. “ Because Zeus may not like Heracles mingling with the other athletes. ” ” Yes, and Zeus knows that everybody in Olympia is trying to sabotage Heracles, ” Julia added. “ He never would have believed we were just playing football together. Maybe Heracles was trying to protect us. ” Julia’s face suddenly turned gloomy. ” What’s wrong?” Brody asked Julia bit her lip. “ I didn’t tell Heracles everything I know about his future. ”

Markos frowned. “ I’m not sure it was wise to tell him your secret either. ” ” I know, ” Julia replied. “ I didn’t mean to say anything—the truth just came out. But I don’t think he or Iphicles will tell anyone else about us. ” ” I think you’re right, ” Brody agreed. Markos was watching Julia’s face. “ You said Heracles would become a great hero. What more is there to tell?” ” Yes, that part is true, ” Julia said. She wandered back into the clearing and sat down beside the stream. “ He’ll free Prometheus, as I said before. He helps the Argonauts search for the Golden Fleece. ”

” He defeats lots of bad guys, helps lots of ordinary people, kills some nasty monsters, and does many other things. “ ” And of course there are the Labors of Heracles—12 very difficult tasks that he completes. But I definitely didn’t want to tell him the reason he must perform these Labors. ” “ What’s the reason?” Brody asked. Julia shook her head. “ Brody, didn’t you pay attention at all last year?” He smiled sheepishly. “ I had social studies class at the end of the day. I missed it a lot for football games. ”

“ Right—football. ” Julia’s tone was sarcastic. “ Well, Heracles has to complete the 12 Labors as punishment for killing his own children. ” Brody gasped. “ Really? He kills his own children?” Markos looked shocked too. “ No wonder you didn’t want to tell him that. ” Julia nodded. “ Yes. But he only kills his kids because Hera uses her powers to drive him insane, ” she added. “ That’s no surprise, ” Brody said. “ She already seems to hate him. ”

“ Probably because she has guessed that Zeus is Heracles’ father, ” Markos said. “ She is very jealous. ” Brody kicked a stone into the stream. “ Then why doesn’t Hera tell everyone that Heracles is half god?” he asked. “ Wouldn’t he get kicked out of the Games then? Having a half god compete against the rest of us would be like having a professional football player compete in a high school game! ” ” That’s actually a good analogy, ” Julia told him with a smile. ” Thanks. ” Brody wasn’t sure what an analogy was, but he didn’t want to admit that.