Artemis the Brave by Suzanne Williams, Joan Holub

.”
    “That’s a pretty big target,” said Aphrodite.
    They all laughed. Seeing that Orion was alone again, Artemis quickly told her friends, “Thanks for coming out to watch. I’ll catch you later.” She saw their worried looks as she left them and headed for Orion. They thought she still liked him. Well, they were wrong about that. Now that she finally saw him for the mega-jerk he really was, she was finished with him. Except for one last thing. Running over to him, she snatched her silver arrows from his quiver. “Here,” she said handing him his wooden ones. “I believe these are yours.”
    “Really? I wonder how our arrows got switched,” Orion said in surprise. He was such a brilliant actor that she almost believed his look of innocent confusion. Almost, but not quite.
    “Yeah, I wonder,” she said, eyeing him so he’d know he hadn’t gotten away with anything. “Now I’m going to have to spend hours undoing the bad training you’ve given mine. Thanks for nothing.” Turning, she stalked off toward her brother. Behind her, Orion limped off the field, still pretending to be injured. Apparently, he was too much a coward to continue in the contest without her arrows to help him win.
    “I don’t get it. How did he wind up with your arrows?” Apollo asked when she rejoined him.
    “I took him to the Forest of the Beasts,” she admitted.
    His jaw dropped. “What? Why?”
    Artemis shrugged. “It’s complicated.”
    “I’ll bet,” said Apollo, fuming. Given their poor start, their team lost the contest badly. Artemis could tell that he was furious with her. She wanted to leave him alone until he cooled off, but she made herself do the right thing. Apologize.
    “I’m sorry,” she told him, sticking by his side as they headed for the bleachers.
    “You should be,” he muttered. Waving to Dionysus and his other friends, he broke into a trot, abruptly leaving her for them.
    She stood there looking after him, openmouthed. They’d always supported, defended, and encouraged each other, and she’d taken their friendship for granted. But now he was mad at her. She’d never felt so alone, and she didn’t know how to patch things up between them. But she did know that fighting over someone like Orion was absolutely dumb.



Bailing
    W HEN ARTEMIS SPOTTED ORION AT HIS locker Monday morning, her first instinct was to turn around and march away. She reached down and petted her dogs, thinking. “No,” she whispered to Suez. “That would be cowardly. Besides, his locker is only two down from mine. I’m bound to run into him now and then. Better to face him and get it over with.” Suez gave her hand a sympathetic lick.
    “Artie! Wait till you hear the news!” Orion said when he noticed her drawing near. He was acting as if yesterday had never happened. As if he hadn’t stolen her arrows, teased her, or cheated. As if he’d done nothing wrong at all. In fact, he was grinning from ear to ear. And he seemed to be cleaning out his locker.
    “What news?” She bent to give Sirius a quick pat—after all, he couldn’t help who his master was—then she rummaged in her own locker for the scroll she needed.
    “Hermes just brought me a message from Earth. The star of the new play in the Dionysia Amphitheater—the biggest theater in all of Greece—has gotten a bad case of catarrh! Coughing, sneezing, the works.” He looked delighted that the other actor had a cold.
    “And that’s good news?” she asked, shutting her locker.
    “Yes, because I have been asked to take his place!” Orion had a bag over his shoulder and was stuffing the last of his belongings into it.
    With a growing feeling of foreboding, Artemis asked, “Oh? And when does this play start?”
    “Right away! Hermes is waiting outside in his chariot to take me to Earth now.”
    Her jaw dropped. “What? But The Arrow starts in just a week.”
    Orion shrugged. “I’ll have to quit.” He shut his locker and headed down the hall, with