Medusa the Rich by Holub Joan

Author:Holub, Joan [Holub, Joan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

8

Trade-Offs

HA!” MEDUSA SAID TO HER two sisters, giving a fake laugh. “Me robbing a bank? Very funny.” But inside her chest a panicky feeling was growing. As she finished paying the clerk, she tried to think of a convincing story to explain her newfound purchasing power. Her sisters knew just how small her allowance actually was. They knew there was no way on Earth or Mount Olympus that she could’ve saved enough to pay for those chitons, even on sale.

Meanwhile the clerk was bagging her purchases. And Pheme was listening intently, probably hoping for some good gossip she could spread.

“Well?” asked Stheno, tapping her foot impatiently. “Where did the money come from?”

Out of nowhere a good answer came to Medusa. “Mr. Dolos,” she announced. Which was the truth, of course. “He owed me some royalties for using my picture on those toy shields he made a while back, remember?”

This was also true, except Medusa had turned down the hundred drachmas in royalties he’d once tried to pay her because she’d been so disgusted at what he’d done with her image. He’d used it to scare people and had claimed the shields were magic when they weren’t!

Seemingly satisfied with her answer, her sisters lingered nearby awhile longer. “Why are you wearing that glove?” Euryale asked as Medusa reached for the bag of five new chitons, which the clerk was now holding out to her.

Pheme piped up. “She’s got a skin disease.” The words puffed from her lips to hang in the air above her.

The clerk, who hadn’t seemed fazed by Medusa’s snakes, now gave a little gasp and took a step back.

“A skin condition,” Medusa corrected quickly. “And it’s not contagious. Just a bit of dryness and some flaking. That kind of thing.”

Stheno grinned at Euryale. “Maybe she’s molting,” she joked. “Shedding her skin just like her snakes.”

Euryale laughed gleefully. “Yeah. That’s got to be it!”

Though her snakes hissed, acting annoyed on Medusa’s behalf, Medusa was happy to let her sisters have their little joke. It was better than them finding out the truth about her golden touch. “Right,” she said in a perky tone. “You got it in one!”

“Really?” said Pheme, her eyes rounding in surprise.

This cracked Stheno and Euryale up anew.

“No. They were joking,” Medusa explained patiently.

Stheno snorted. “Or maybe not. See you both back at MOA!” she called over her shoulder as she and Euryale headed farther into the store to look for clothes themselves.

Phew, thought Medusa. Talk about a close call!

When she and Pheme arrived back at the Academy a half hour later, Medusa said a quick good-bye and hurried to her room. After carefully hanging her new chitons in her closet and stashing her leftover drachmas in the back of her desk drawer, she decided to go do something she loved as much as Artemis loved archery. Swimming! Having grown up on the coast of the Aegean Sea with a sea monster for a mom and a sea hog for a dad, Medusa was a natural at it.

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