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‘Guys!’ Frank stood at <strong>the</strong> far end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> parking lot, waving at <strong>the</strong>m to come over. Next to him,<br />
Hazel sat astride her horse Arion, who had appeared unannounced as soon as <strong>the</strong>y’d landed.<br />
Saved by <strong>the</strong> Zhang, Leo thought.<br />
He and Percy jogged over to meet <strong>the</strong>ir friends.<br />
‘This place is huge,’ Frank reported. ‘The ruins stretch from <strong>the</strong> river to <strong>the</strong> base <strong>of</strong> that mountain<br />
over <strong>the</strong>re, about half a kilometre.’<br />
‘How far is that in regular measurements?’ Percy asked.<br />
Frank rolled his eyes. ‘That is a regular measurement in Canada and <strong>the</strong> rest <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world. Only you<br />
Americans –’<br />
‘About five or six football fields,’ Hazel interceded, feeding Arion a big chunk <strong>of</strong> gold.<br />
Percy spread his hands. ‘That’s all you needed to say.’<br />
‘Anyway,’ Frank continued, ‘from overhead, I didn’t see anything suspicious.’<br />
‘Nei<strong>the</strong>r did I,’ Hazel said. ‘Arion took me on a complete loop around <strong>the</strong> perimeter. A lot <strong>of</strong><br />
tourists, but no crazy goddess.’<br />
The big stallion nickered and tossed his head, his neck muscles rippling under his butterscotch<br />
coat.<br />
‘Man, your horse can cuss.’ Percy shook his head. ‘He doesn’t think much <strong>of</strong> Olympia.’<br />
For once, Leo agreed with <strong>the</strong> horse. He didn’t like <strong>the</strong> idea <strong>of</strong> tromping through fields full <strong>of</strong> ruins<br />
under a blazing sun, shoving his way through hordes <strong>of</strong> sweaty tourists while searching for a splitpersonality<br />
victory goddess. Besides, Frank had already flown over <strong>the</strong> whole valley as an eagle. If<br />
his sharp eyes hadn’t seen anything, maybe <strong>the</strong>re was nothing to see.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, Leo’s tool-belt pockets were full <strong>of</strong> dangerous toys. He would hate to go home<br />
without blowing anything up.<br />
‘So we blunder around toge<strong>the</strong>r,’ he said, ‘and let trouble find us. It’s always worked before.’<br />
They poked about for a while, avoiding tour groups and ducking from one patch <strong>of</strong> shade to <strong>the</strong><br />
next. Not for <strong>the</strong> first time, Leo was struck by how similar Greece was to his home state <strong>of</strong> Texas –<br />
<strong>the</strong> low hills, <strong>the</strong> scrubby trees, <strong>the</strong> drone <strong>of</strong> cicadas and <strong>the</strong> oppressive summer heat. Switch out <strong>the</strong><br />
ancient columns and ruined temples for cows and barbed wire, and Leo would’ve felt right at home.<br />
Frank found a tourist pamphlet (seriously, that dude would read <strong>the</strong> ingredients on a soup can) and<br />
gave <strong>the</strong>m a running commentary on what was what.<br />
‘This is <strong>the</strong> Propylon.’ He waved towards a stone path lined with crumbling columns. ‘One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
main gates into <strong>the</strong> Olympic valley.’<br />
‘Rubble!’ said Leo.<br />
‘And over <strong>the</strong>re –’ Frank pointed to a square foundation that looked like <strong>the</strong> patio for a Mexican<br />
restaurant – ‘is <strong>the</strong> Temple <strong>of</strong> Hera, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> oldest structures here.’<br />
‘More rubble!’ Leo said.<br />
‘And that round bandstand-looking thing – that’s <strong>the</strong> Philipeon, dedicated to Philip <strong>of</strong> Macedonia.’<br />
‘Even more rubble! First-rate rubble!’<br />
Hazel, who was still riding Arion, kicked Leo in <strong>the</strong> arm. ‘Doesn’t anything impress you?’