Escape Plans

And then Athena started yelling at Aphrodite. ” Brody’s voice was shaky as he told his story. “ I just put on my old chiton and sandals and got out of there. ” Julia had always seen Brody looking cocky and confident. But right now he seemed upset and unsure of himself. He’d come rushing out of the bath ten minutes earlier, babbling about almost being poisoned. She and Markos had led him to a private spot outside the gymnasium, where he’d told them the whole story of Aphrodite’s visit. “ Wow, ” Julia said. “ And Athena mentioned Zeus’wife, Hera?”

然后雅典娜开始对阿芙罗狄蒂大喊大叫。” 布罗迪颤抖着声音讲述道。“穿上旧裤子和凉鞋后，我就离开了那里。” 茱莉亚看到的布罗迪一直是骄傲自信的。但现在他似乎很沮丧，对自己也不自信了。 他十分钟前从浴缸里冲了出来，嘴里念叨着差点被毒死。 她和马库斯把他带到了体育馆外的一个私人场所，在那里，他向他们讲述了阿芙罗狄蒂来访这整件事。 “哇，”茱莉亚说。“雅典娜提到了宙斯的妻子赫拉？”

“ Yeah, ” Brody said. “ She seemed to think Aphrodite and Hera were working together or something. ” “ That makes sense, ” Julia said, thinking back on the Greek myths she’d read. “ I mean, it sounds like something Hera might do. It reminds me of the story about the Shirt of Nessus. ” “ The shirt of what?” Brody looked blank. “ Never mind, I’ll tell you about it some other time, ” Julia said. “ But what about trying to escape? Are you ready now?”

“是的，”布罗迪说。“她似乎认为阿芙罗狄蒂和赫拉在一起合作或是什么。” “这很有道理，”茱莉亚边回想她读过的希腊神话边说。“我的意思是，这听起来像赫拉可能会做的事。这让我想起了关于涅索斯衬衫的故事。” “什么衬衫？”布罗迪一脸茫然。 “没关系，我改天再告诉你，”茱莉亚说。“但试着逃跑呢？你现在准备好了吗？

Brody thought for a second. “ Maybe, ” he said. “ But how?” “ We need to find a way to sneak into the Temple of Caerus. ” Julia glanced at Markos. “ Will you help us?” She expected him to say no. To her surprise, however, Markos looked thoughtful. “ Did Athena truly say that Hera and Aphrodite were working together?” he asked. “ Because that would be quite unusual. ” “ Why?” Brody said. “ Wouldn’t anyone want to work with Aphrodite?”

布罗迪想了想。“也许吧，”他说。“但是怎么做？” “我们需要想办法潜入卡埃罗斯神庙。”茱莉亚瞥了马库斯一眼。“你会帮助我们吗？” 她希望他会拒绝。然而，令她惊讶的是，马库斯看起来若有所思。 “雅典娜真的说赫拉和阿芙罗狄蒂在一起合作吗？”他问。“因为那很不寻常。” “为什么？”布罗迪说。“难道没有人愿意和阿芙罗狄蒂合作吗？”

Julia looked at him in astonishment. “ She just tried to kill you, dummy! You can’t still have a crush on her! ” Looking unhappy, Brody shrugged. Markos looked troubled now. “ Both Hermes and my father have ordered me to keep you safe, ” he told Brody. “ But if Hera is after you, there is no safety for you in Olympia. Or anywhere in Greece, for that matter. Once Hera develops a grudge against someone, she won’t stop until she’s destroyed him. ” He shuddered. “ Even Zeus himself is not always safe. ”

茱莉亚惊讶地看着他。“她只是想杀了你，笨蛋！你不能还迷恋她！” 布罗迪看起来很不高兴，耸了耸肩。 马库斯现在看起来很苦恼。“赫尔墨斯和我父亲都命令我保护你的安全，”他告诉布罗迪。 “但如果赫拉在追杀你，你在奥林匹亚或希腊的任何地方都没有安全可言。 一旦赫拉对某人怀恨在心，除非毁了那人，否则她就不会停下。” 他不寒而栗。“即使是宙斯本人也并不总是安全的。”

“ That’s why we need to get home, ” Julia said. “ Back to our own time. ” She looked at Markos. Would he help them? Or would he tell Hermes what they were planning? She and Brody had told Markos about the time passage in the temple on their first night in Greece. But Markos hadn’t said much in response. Julia wasn’t sure he believed they’d really come from the future. Finally Markos nodded. “ I will try to help, ” he said. “ In return, I ask only that you not tell Hermes that I did so. If he learns of my help, he will be angry and could even take out that anger on my father or the rest of my family. ”

“这就是为什么我们需要回家，”茱莉亚说。“回到我们自己的时代。”她看着马库斯。 他会帮助他们吗？或者他会告诉赫尔墨斯他们的计划吗？ 在来到希腊的第一个晚上她和布罗迪就在神庙里告诉了马库斯关于时光走廊的事儿。 但马库斯没有多做回应。茱莉亚不确定他是否相信他们真的来自未来。 最后，马库斯点了点头。“我会尽力帮忙，”他说。“作为回报，我只要求你不要告诉赫尔墨斯我做的事儿。 如果他得知我帮助了你们，他会很生气，甚至会把这种愤怒发泄到我父亲或我家人身上。”

“ Don’t worry, ” Julia said. “ Once we get out of here, we’re planning never to see Hermes again. Now listen, I’ve been thinking about this, and I have some ideas about how we could get away. . . ” The three of them spent the rest of the day concocting their plan. By dinnertime Julia was feeling confident. Hermes and Caerus entered the courtyard and took their seats at the table, just as they’d done the evening before. Julia watched from the doorway as Hermes started talking to Brody about his plans for training.

“别担心，”茱莉亚说。“一旦我们离开这里，我们打算再也不见赫尔墨斯了。 听着，我一直在考虑这个问题，我对我们如何脱身有一些想法……” 当天其他时间他们都在制定他们的计划。吃饭时，茱莉亚感到很自信。 赫尔墨斯和卡埃罗斯走进院子，像前一天晚上一样在桌子旁坐下。 茱莉亚从门口看到赫尔墨斯开始和布罗迪谈论他的训练计划。