Artemis the Brave Read Online Free PDF Page B

part?”
    Dionysus grinned and shrugged, running his fingers through his curly black hair and around the two small horns that stuck up from the top of his head.
    “Maybe I’ll try out too,” said Aphrodite. “I’d love to play Psyche, the nymph.”
    “We could help with the sets,” Persephone suggested to Hades.
    “Sure,” he agreed distractedly, intent on aiming his dart.
    “I’m already involved,” said Athena. “Dad asked me to lead the Greek Chorus with my flute.”
    “Yes!” Apollo cheered Hades’ dartboard bull’s-eye, then turned to Athena. “Is this play a tragedy or a comedy?”
    “A little of both, I think.” She glanced from him to Artemis. “Maybe the two of you should try out. Dad mentioned he’ll need some actors skilled in archery.”
    “Now that would really be tragedy,” said Apollo. “Neither of us could act our way out of a papyrus bag.”
    “Speak for yourself,” said Artemis. Secretly, she thought he was probably right, though.
    Her brother laughed. “Do whatever you want, but I’ll stick to archery on the field, thanks. There are plenty of other good archers who’ll try out, like Dionysus.”
    After that, talk drifted to other things, and eventually the party broke up. That night in her dorm room, Artemis spent some time finishing up the paper on organization that Ms. ThreeGraces had given her. Glancing around her messy room, she doubted the assignment would actually change anything. She was just naturally disorganized. Most times she couldn’t be bothered to hang up her clothes. And what was the point of making her bed or cleaning out her locker, anyway? They’d just get messy again. If she could’ve changed the title of her paper to “The Beauty of Being Dis organized,” it would have been a snap to write!
    By bedtime, Orion still hadn’t come for his dog, and Sirius was acting kind of worried. Every time he heard footsteps in the hall outside Artemis’s room, his head snapped up eagerly, and he cocked his ears toward the door. After the steps passed, his furry chin sank onto his front paws again, and he practically sighed with longing. Artemis was going to scold Orion tomorrow for deserting his poor pooch on his first day in a new place.
    But maybe she’d wear her most fashionable chiton—if she could find it—and comb her hair to do it. Just so he’d see she wasn’t always a mess.



Auditions
    T HE NEXT MORNING ARTEMIS PUT ON HER best red chiton, which she found in a heap on the floor. As she hunted around for her belt, she stepped on something. “Ow!” It was a hair clip Aphrodite had given her years ago, hidden under an old, holey chiton she wore as a nightie. The clip was pretty. Why hadn’t she ever worn it before? Gathering her hair high on her head, she clasped the gold band around it, then put on her belt and grabbed her bow and arrows. She didn’t have a mirror, so she looked at her reflection in the sunlit window glass. She looked . . . nice. But she couldn’t help noticing that even her best chiton was a little wrinkled. And what was that spot on the shoulder? She angled the strap of her quiver to cover it and smoothed out the wrinkles as best she could.
    Satisfied, Artemis whistled for Sirius and her hounds. “Let’s go, guys!” Together, they hurried toward the amphitheater where the drama auditions were being held. The dogs were in their usual high spirits, running this way and that and chasing everything that moved. Sirius seemed to have formed an attachment to Amby, the beagle, and playfully nipped at his tail and ears. When Amby had had enough and started to chase him, Sirius dodged under the larger dogs, as if he were passing under tall bridges. “Hey, you guys, behave yourselves!” she exclaimed when they almost knocked her over. By the time they arrived, most of the seats were full and auditions were under way.
    As she started down the aisle, Principal Zeus’s voice thundered out. “Well?” Startled, she jumped. But then she