Chapter One
"Ow! That was my toe."
"Well, move over then."
"I can't see anything. Hold the light up higher."
"This is as high as I can hold it. Wait—"
Perseus had just spotted a larger lamp. He lit it, and the room appeared before the two boys, jumping and shifting in the light of the oil lamp. Magnificent tapestries, displaying heroes, monsters, and a short man with red cheeks, lined the walls of the dark room. Tall stone statues stood in neat rows, and formed thin aisles between them. To Perseus, the statues looked like guards—ones who knew the boys shouldn't be there.
He handed the smaller lamp to the boy beside him, and picked up the other one for himself. "Let's hurry up and find it," he said. He reached to close the door they had just come through, but then thought better of it. They might need to escape the palace in a hurry. "I don't like it in here."
"Me neither," said his friend. "Look, why
don't we split up? You take that side and I'll look over here. That way we'll get done faster."
Perseus didn't really want to separate, but he pushed aside his fears and agreed to it anyway. Quintus was right; this way they would be done twice as fast.
He began looking behind the looming statues on his side. Cobwebs ran from carved toes all the way up to the next statues' heads. He pushed his way past them with a shudder. Every once in a while he would peer over his shoulder at the door, to make sure no one was coming. The sound of his footsteps on the stone floor was eaten up by the tapestries, making eerily muffled echoes.
Perseus jumped as something stepped from behind the statue of Aphrodite.
"It's just me," Quintus said.
"I knew that." But Perseus' heart still beat furiously from the surprise.
"I don't think it's here," Quintus whispered. He looked worried, and kept glancing longingly toward the door. "Maybe we should just go and come back another time."
"No. It's here, I know it is. It has to be." Perseus looked around. All he saw were statues that had already been searched. The one in front of him had a grim face and a fiery crown. Hades, god of the Underworld. "There's no other place—"and then the light from his lamp caught a glint of gold in the far corner of the room. He held the light higher, and could just make out a plain wood table, with something shiny on top. The two boys hurried over to see what it was.
"Wow," breathed Quintus.
The shiny thing was a small box, made entirely of gold. The top showed a bull emerging from the ocean's waves.
"This must be worth a fortune," Quintus said. He looked around. "Do you think he would notice if we took it?"
"Of course he would. Now hold this so I can look inside." Perseus handed over his lamp and opened the box. Inside was a small statue of Poseidon. The god of the ocean held a trident in his hand. A small conch shell hung on a golden thread around his neck. "This is it!' Perseus cried. He grabbed for the statue. But in his excitement, he hit against one of the lamps, and hot oil spilled onto Quintus' arm.
"Aaaaah!" Quintus dropped the lamp and began howling in pain.
"Be quiet!" Perseus hissed. "They'll hear you!" He strained to listen for any noises coming from the hallway outside, but he couldn't hear anything over Quintus' shouting. "Come on, let's go."
He tugged his friend toward the door. Quintus' howls got quieter, and they could hear noised coming from another part of the palace. Shouts and thuds told them they'd been heard.
There was no need anymore to be quiet. Quintus dropped the other lamp, and the two hurried in darkness for the door.
"Here it is," Perseus said, after a few frantic seconds of groping for the exit.
They ran from the room and searched desperately for the right way out. Moonlight from the windows (too high for them to escape through) lighted their escape. Sounds of pursuit followed close behind.
"Quick! This way! I hear them!" someone shouted from behind.
Perseus and Quintus bolted through the door, and were met by fresh night air.
"My house," Perseus yelled. "It's closer." He looked over his shoulder as he ran. Three men, all wearing tunics, burst from the palace. They seemed to be out of breath, however; they were running slowly, and breathing in huge gasps. "Hurry, I think we can lose them."
The two ran as quickly as they could down to the sea shore, and stopped just short of a shabby, stonework cottage. Identical cottages pressed in closely all around.
Quintus headed quickly for the front door, but Perseus stopped him. "Wait a minute," he said. "We have to hide this." He held up the statue they had stolen. It was slippery with sweat from his hand.
"Where are we going to hide it?" Quintus asked, looking around. There wasn't much space between the cottages, and no trees or anything to use as a hiding spot. The ocean broke against the shore a quarter of a mile away. "Should we bury it?"
"No, come on, I'll show you," Perseus said. He led Quintus around to the side of the house, and removed a loose stone from the wall. "I found a hole here one day, so now I put anything I want to hide in there. Then I cover it up with this rock." He showed Quintus how the rock was really thin so that it wouldn't take up much space in the wall. "Took me forever to find one that would work."
Quintus stared at the hole in amazement. "No fair. I wish we had a hole in our house."
Perseus was about to reply, but men's voices from close by cut him off. Quintus looked at him with wide eyes. "They must have seen us come this way," he said.
"We need to get inside." Perseus shoved the statue into the hole, replaced the rock, and herded Quintus into the house.
Once the door shut behind them, Perseus felt safe. Nothing could get him here. The room they entered was warm and well-lit by a fire burning in the hearth. A few pieces of shabby furniture sat on top of a brightly colored rug. Two doors led to other parts of the house, and a window allowed in a patch of night sky. And in the middle of the room stood a tall, pretty woman, her hands on her hips, her lips pursed, and her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Where have you two been?" she asked. A stocky man sitting next to her looked up from mending his fishing net."Nowhere, Mother," Perseus said. He tried to wipe the sweat from his hands without her noticing. "Just walking around." Beside him, Quintus nodded his agreement.
Someone outside started banging on the door. Perseus and Quintus glanced at each other.
"Want to go to my room?" Perseus whispered.
Quintus nodded again, and the two started sneaking away. But before they could get very far Mother said, "Hold it right there. I'm guessing this has something to do with you two."
Perseus stopped guiltily. The stocky man laid his net down and answered the door.
"Thieves! You've got thieves in here, and I've come to punish them!" A fat, red-faced man burst into the room, panting heavily for breath. Though he was still only wearing his night clothes (a tattered purple tunic), he had taken the time to put on his crown. Its few well-polished gems twinkled in the lamplight. "They're thieves and I intend to punish them as such."
"Now hold on, Polydectes," the man said in a calm, steady voice. "Who are you accusing?"
"You know very well who I'm accusing, Dictys! Those two!" He pointed to where Perseus and Quintus stood, pressed against the wall. ""My own brother, housing thieves. I never thought you could stoop any lower than you already were. I guess I was wrong."
"It wouldn't be the first time." Dictys stared cooly at his brother, who was now clutching at a cramp in his side. "Just what do you think they've stolen?"
The king's breathing steadied a little. "A small statue of Poseidon. I don't think I need to tell you just how valuable it is."
Dictys' eyes opened wide. He was still calm, however, when he said, "I don't see any statue, Polydectes. Do you?"
The king turned a sharp eye on the boys. They held up their empty hands and he blustered. "I know it was them. I know they took it. I saw them running from the palace." He scurried over to the boys. Standing only half a foot away, he stared directly into Perseus' face. Perseus stared right back. Polydectes was the first to drop his gaze. But then he yelled, "Aha! If those boys weren't making trouble, how did this one burn his arm?" He pointed to the mark the hot oil had left on Quintus.
"We were—" Perseus began; but Mother cut him off.
"Dictys, I think you'd better take Quintus to see the maid. She'll be able to treat that burn better than anyone else in the house."
"I don't think—"
"Perseus is my son," Mother said firmly. "I'll take care of it."
Dictys sighed and turned away. "Come on, boy. Let's go get you cleaned up." Quintus shot Perseus a scared look as Dictys led him from the room."
"Perseus, you go with them."
"But I—"
"No buts." She pointed toward the door.
Perseus, however, stayed where he was. He didn't want Mother to have to talk to Polydectes alone.
"Go," Mother said, "or I'll call Dictys back to drag you out."
There was nothing left to do. Perseus stomped from the room, but he didn't go far. He lingered in the hallway, listening at the door.
"What's this about, Polydectes? You have dozens of statues. One more or less isn't going to make a difference."
"On the contrary," Polydectes said. His voice was now calm and smooth, but it somehow reminded Perseus of a snake. "This statue is very special. It was give to me by Poseidon himself. I could kill anyone who stole it."
"The boys didn't have the statue." Despite her words, Mother sounded frightened. "You saw that for yourself."
"But I will. It's only a matter of time, my dear. Only a matter of time. Of course, I could be persuaded to overlook the offense..."
Perseus risked a peek through the doorway. Polydectes had leaned in close to Mother, and he had a greedy look on his face. "You're a beautiful woman," he said. "Marry me, and you and that thieving brat of yours will be safe forever."
Mother looked as if she wished to slap him, but she only backed away. "And if I don't?"
Poly smirked. "If you don't? Well, like I said, it's only a matter of time."
A small, dark-haired girl, the same age as Perseus, chose that moment to walk into the room through a side entrance.
"Moera!" Mother cried, rushing over to her. "What are you doing out of bed?"
"I heard shouting," the girl said in a nasally voice. "I wanted to see what was going on."
Perseus pulled his head back out of the doorway and rolled his eyes. That was just like Moera, butting in where she didn't belong. Well, at least this time her nosiness was useful.
Polydectes said, "We'll finish this conversation another time. When there are less distractions." Perseus heard footsteps and then the door opened and closed.
"Moera, you're a life saver," he heard Mother say. "Dictys! Perseus! It's okay to come back in, he's gone."
Perseus hurried into the room before Dictys could come out and see him eavesdropping.
"What did I do?" Moera asked. Mother just smiled at her.
Perseus opened his mouth to tell Mother that he would rather get thrown in jail than have her marry Polydectes—but he never got the chance. As soon as she saw him, her face turned red and she started to shout.
"What do you think you were doing, stealing things? I didn't raise you that way. And to steal from the king, too! Anyone would think you'd lost your mind."
Then Dictys came back in with Quintus (whose arm now glistened with what looked like a thin layer of slime,) and he joined the tirade. "I'm disappointed in both of you." He pointed his finger to each of them in turn. "You're behaving no better than common thieves."
"Oooh, what did they steal?" asked Moera.
"You stay out of this," Perseus said, getting upset. And," he added to Dictys, "you don't know we took anything. Why do you believe him and not us?"
"Because I'm not a fool." He fell into his seat and yanked the fishing net from the floor. "You'll go first thing tomorrow to return that statue. Leave it on the doorstep, and don't let anybody see you. Do you understand me?"
"You can't tell me what to do," Perseus said. He needed that statue, and he wasn't going to return it until the proper time. "You're not my father."
"Perseus!" Mother snapped. "Don't be so ungrateful. As long as we live here, the least we can do is make as little trouble for Dictys as we can."
"You always take his side," Perseus shouted.
Mother tossed up her arms. "Not this again."
"What did they steal?" repeated Moera.
"Shut up!" Perseus yelled. He ran from the room as fast as he could. He threw himself into bed, and only calmed down again once he started thinking about his plans for the next day.