John Dougherty

Zeus to the Rescue

Chapter One
Diana

This is me.
  And this is the Greek god Zeus. He came to stay at our house once, and caused all sorts of trouble.
  This is the story of what happened when he came back.

It all started when the new girl arrived in our class.
  'Put down your pencils, everyone,' Miss Wise announced. 'I'd like to introduce you to Diana. I'm sure you'll all make her feel at home.'
  Diana didn't look like she wanted to feel at home. She looked bad-tempered and a bit scary. I didn't think she was going to be very popular.
  I was wrong about that. The moment Miss Wise said, 'Now, who would like to sit beside Diana and look after her today?' every single girl in the class put her hand up. Every one! Even Sophie and Leah, who always sit together and never play with anyone else! It was a bit weird, to be honest.
  It got weirder.
  'Now, Diana,' Miss Wise went on, 'I'd like you to go and sit down next to Hélène, please. She'll make sure you know where everything is.'
  But Diana didn't sit down. Instead, she looked at Miss Wise and said, 'Have you got a boyfriend?'
  Everyone gasped, and held their breath. Miss Wise hates us being nosy. She always says we shouldn't ask teachers personal questions, and sometimes she gets cross if we do - not shouting or anything like that, but you can just tell, which is worse in a way. Miss Wise is really nice, but you don't want to mess with her.
  So we all waited to see what she would do.
  And what she did was go a bit pink, and say, 'No, I haven't.'
  'That's all right, then,' Diana said, and sat down.

By playtime, it was clear that there was something very strange indeed about Diana. Although she did what Miss Wise said, she kept acting as if she was in charge - and what was stranger, Miss Wise let her. And all the girls seemed to think she was the absolute best.
  'It's because she's so pretty,' said Charlie as we went out to play. 'Girls always like other girls if they're pretty.'
  'Sophie doesn't,' I pointed out. 'Not if they're prettier than her.'
  It was true. Sophie was probably the prettiest girl in the class (or had been up till that morning), and didn't she know it. She could be really mean to anyone she thought might be better-looking - but just like the others, she was fussing round Diana, trying to be her best friend.

That playtime was awful. Absolutely awful. The other girls followed Diana about as if she owned the playground - and she behaved like she did, too. She must have spoiled a dozen games in the first five minutes, barging through them as if they weren't happening. And the funny thing was, she got away with it. No one - kids or teachers - said a thing to her. There was, I thought to myself, definitely something strange about Diana.
  That was when I noticed an odd sort of feeling, a kind of tingling under my shirt. And then I realized what it was.

You see, when Zeus had gone away, he'd left me a gift - a tiny golden thunderbolt on a chain. I was wearing it, and that was what was tingling. I understood immediately.
  'It's Zeus!' I whispered to Charlie.
  'What is?' Charlie whispered back. He can be a bit slow on the uptake sometimes.
  'Diana!' I told him. 'Diana is Zeus in disguise! That's why the girls are behaving so strangely - he's done some kind of magic or something on them!'
  Charlie gave me a funny look. 'Don't be daft, Alex,' he said. 'It can't be Zeus. Zeus is a bloke! And Diana's a girl!'
  I sighed. 'Charlie,' I reminded him, 'last time Zeus was here, he turned into a hamster, a beetle and an eagle. I don't think turning into a girl would be any harder, do you?'
  'Yeah, but I bet it was a boy hamster, and a boy beetle, and a boy eagle. I mean, if he turned into a girl, what would he do with his . . . you know . . .' He went red and shuffled his feet.
  I rolled my eyes. 'Charlie, he's a god. I don't know what they do with their different bits when they turn into other things, but . . . oh, for goodness' sake, look!'
  I put my hand inside my shirt and slipped the little thunderbolt out between two of the buttons. It was glowing gently.
  'See?' I said.
  Charlie looked unconvinced.
  'Well?' he said. 'Even if it is Zeus, what are you going to do about it?'
  'That depends,' I said. 'What have you brought for your playtime snack?'
  Reluctantly, Charlie held up a bag of crisps. Roast beef flavour.
  Zeus's favourite.
  'Perfect!' I said, and grabbed them.
  I waited until the bell went for lining-up, and then sidled up to Diana and held the bag out.
  'Um... would you like me to sacrifice these to you?' I asked innocently.
  Diana barely seemed to notice me.
  'No, thanks,' she said dismissively, and turned away.
  Just for a second, I wondered if I might have made a mistake. But the little thunderbolt was tingling furiously now - so it had to be Zeus, didn't it?
  'Um . . . why not?' I asked. When Zeus had been here before, he'd have taken a break from anything for a quick sacrifice.
  She looked at me again, as if she'd only just become properly aware I was there.
  'Because,' she said, with a sarcastic little half-smile, 'you're aboy.' The way she said it, you'd have thought it was the worst insult in the world. 'And you haven't done anything to offend me. Yet.'
  And then she marched up to the front of our class line and pushed in, right in front of Troy. The other girls stared for a moment and then, giggling and shouting, they ran after her and pushed in too. Poor Troy was elbowed and jostled further and further down the line as they all bumped and shoved to be next to Diana. Of course, then he got all upset and started yelling and trying to get back in at the front, and the girls wouldn't let him.
  And then Miss Wise came out and saw him, and gave him a big telling off. It was so unfair - and so unlike Miss Wise. She wouldn't listen to him at all, just kept saying how rude it was of him to try and push in, and how unkind he was being to Diana on her first day. Then she sent him to the back. Troy stomped  down the line, nearly in tears.
  'Still think she's Zeus?' Charlie whispered.
  'No,' I whispered back.
  'So why's your thunderbolt glowing like that?'
  'Don't know. Maybe it means I need to ask Zeus for help.'
  Charlie gaped at me.
  'You're joking, aren't you, Alex? Remember the trouble he caused last time? You're not going to invite him back, are you?'
  'Who would you rather have here causing trouble?' I asked him. 'Zeus, or Diana?'
  Charlie looked at Troy, who was angrily staring straight ahead and trying not to cry. Then he looked at the front of the line, where Diana, instead of waiting for Miss Wise to tell her to lead in, suddenly charged towards the door. The other girls ran after her, barging their way through the class whose turn it actually was to go.
  He sighed. 'What do we do, then?'

Zeus to the Rescue © John Dougherty, 2007. Published by Random House.