38_No Escape

“ My baby! ” Artemis leaped toward the dog. “ He’s been poisoned! ” “ Poisoned?” several voices murmured. All around the room, gods snatched the goblets out of their champions’ hands. " Whew ” Julia let out a long breath. That had been a close call! Then she noticed Hera glaring at her and stalking closer. Did Hera recognize Julia in her disguise? Julia hoped not. She looked around for an escape route, but she was surrounded by gods and people. She couldn’t even see the door.

”我的宝贝！”阿尔忒弥斯跳向狗。“他中毒了！” “中毒了？”几个声音喃喃低语。在整个房间里，众神都从参赛选手中抢走了高脚杯。 茱莉亚长长地吸了一口气，真是千钧一发！ 然后她注意到赫拉怒视着她，并靠近她。赫拉认出乔装打扮的茱莉亚了吗？朱莉娅希望不会。 她四处寻找逃生路线，但周围都是神和人，她甚至看不到门。

Artemis was muttering over her dog and waving her hand in circles over its head. After a moment the animal’s tail twitched, and a few seconds later it sat up and whimpered. “ Poor baby, ” Artemis said, rubbing its sleek head. She shot an angry look at Hera. “ You’re lucky I was able to revive him! I’m sure I’m not the only one who is growing weary of your ridiculous tricks and magical poisons. ” Hera ignored her. Her steely gaze was still on Julia. Julia gulped. “ I’ve got to get out of here, ” she whispered to Brody and the others.

阿尔忒弥斯对着她的狗嘟囔着，并在它的头上挥舞着她的手。 过了一会儿，这只动物的尾巴抽动了一下，几秒钟后，它坐着呜咽了起来。 “可怜的孩子，”阿尔忒弥斯说，揉着它光滑的脑袋，她愤怒地看着赫拉。 “你真幸运，还好我能让他复活！我相信我并不是唯一一个对你的荒谬把戏和神奇毒药感到厌倦的人。” 赫拉没有理会她，她冷酷的目光仍然盯着朱莉娅。 茱莉亚咽了下口水。“我必须离开这里，”她低声对布罗迪和其他人说。

Brody looked too stunned to respond, and Julia thought that Markos and Iphicles had not yet figured out her identity. But Heracles nodded. “ I’ll distract Hera, ” he whispered. “ You go that way. ” He pointed, and Julia finally spotted a doorway nearby. She barely had time to nod before Heracles leaped forward to intercept Hera. “ Beloved queen of the gods, ” he exclaimed loudly. “ I cannot imagine who dared to tamper with the drinks at your gathering! ”

布罗迪看起来太震惊了，没有反应过来，茱莉亚认为马科斯和伊菲克勒斯还没有弄清楚她的身份。 但赫拉克勒斯点了点头。“我会分散赫拉的注意力，”他低声说道。 “你往那边走。”他指了指，茱莉亚终于发现了附近的一个门口。 她几乎没有来得及点头，赫拉克勒斯就跳上前去拦截赫拉。 “亲爱的众神女王，”他大声喊道。 “我无法想象谁敢在你的聚会上偷换饮料！”

“ You can’t?” Ares called out with a snort. “ Because I can! ” Hera whirled around to glare at Ares. “ Silence! ” she snapped. Meanwhile Julia darted toward the door that Heracles had indicated. It led into a storage room. A few servants glanced at Julia as she raced across the storage room and finally out the back door. Once she was safely outside, Julia collapsed against the back wall of the house, shaking with relief. “ Wow, that really was close, ” she murmured.

“你不能？”阿瑞斯哼了一声喊道。“因为我可以！” 赫拉转过身来怒视阿瑞斯。“安静！”她厉声说道。 与此同时，茱莉亚朝赫拉克勒斯指示的门冲去，它通向储藏室。 当茱莉亚穿过储藏室，最后走出后门时，几个仆人瞥了她一眼。 当茱莉亚安全地走出室外时，她瘫倒在房子的后墙上，松了一口气。 “哇，真是紧张，”她喃喃地说。

She still could hardly believe her plan had succeeded. When the guard had commented again about her water jar, she’d had the idea to bribe him. She’d lured him away from his post, and then offered to trade the jar for his clothes. After trading her girl’s chiton for the guard’s chiton, she’d asked to borrow his knife. She’d paused only for a second before chopping off a lot of her hair. The guard loved his new water jar so much, he agreed to keep quiet while Julia sneaked into the house with a group of servants carrying in more food. Once she was inside, Julia had followed the party sounds to the right room, only to find Brody with the cup already to his lips . . .

她仍然难以相信她的计划成功了。 当警卫再次提到她的水罐时，她有了贿赂他的想法。 她引诱他离开岗位，然后提出用罐子换衣服。 在用她女儿的袍子换了警卫的袍子后，她要求借用他的刀。 她只犹豫了一下就剪掉了很多头发。 警卫非常喜欢他的新水缸，他同意保持安静，而朱莉娅和一群仆人带着更多的食物潜入了房子。 茱莉亚一进去，就顺着派对的声音来到了正确的房间，结果发现布罗迪和杯子已经到了他的嘴唇。

Julia shuddered, remembering that awful moment. She’d arrived in the nick of time. “ What would I do if something happened to Brody?” she thought suddenly. “ I’d probably never get home. ” But that wasn’t the only reason she was glad Brody was okay. It wasn’t even the most important reason. Brody was actually starting to feel like . . . a friend. It was a weird thought. But Julia didn’t have much time to ponder it.

茱莉亚想起那可怕的时刻，吓了一跳。她来得正好。 “如果布罗迪出事了，我该怎么办？”她突然想。“我可能永远回不了家。” 但这不是她高兴布罗迪没事的唯一原因。 这甚至不是最重要的原因。布罗迪实际上开始觉得自己像…一个朋友。 这是一个奇怪的想法，但茱莉亚没有太多时间去思考。