"Grab it, boy!" Hermes shouted.
Brody grunted and pushed himself up on his hands and knees again.
An hour earlier Hermes had finished plotting with some other gods and dragged Brody away from the agora.
They'd returned to the gymnasium to continue Brody's training.
At the moment Hermes was making Brody practice wrestling.
But instead of wrestling another athlete, or Hermes, Brody was following Hermes' orders and wrestling a greased pig!
The creature was slippery and mean. It had already bitten Brody twice.
Plus it was nearly impossible for Brody to get a grip on its slick skin.
"Try grabbing its legs!" Markos shouted helpfully from the sidelines.
He stood there with Julia and Caerus, along with a small crowd.
"Every time I try that, the pig kicks me!" Brody complained.
Apollo roared with laughter. "Thanks for the show, Hermes," he said, clapping the messenger god on the shoulder.
"I was in a foul mood after getting a look at Zeus' impressive hero.
But watching your champion make a fool of himself has lightened my mood!"
"Don't get too happy, sun god," Hermes warned.
"You won't be laughing when my mortal beats yours in the Games."
"Neither mortal is likely to beat Heracles," Artemis chimed in.
"After what we saw today, I'm certain that Heracles cannot be defeated in the Games."
"Speak for your own champion, moon goddess," Hermes said.
Then he strode over and grabbed the pig. He placed the animal down.
"Get back to work, boy," he snapped at Brody.
Brody glanced at his audience with a frown. He didn't like being laughed at.
But he didn't dare disobey Hermes. So he wrapped his arms around the pig again.
It squealed and tried to bite him on the ear.
Brody's hands almost slipped again, but he finally managed to pin down the pig.
"There!" he yelled triumphantly. He let the pig go and jumped to his feet. "Now what?"
"Well done." Hermes sounded a little happier with Brody.
"Now we return to improving your running. Your times in the short races still aren't satisfactory."
"Brody's times will have to be better than satisfactory if he expects to beat Heracles," Julia muttered to Markos.
Hermes didn't seem to hear her, but Brody did.
He scowled as he walked past her, following Hermes.
For the next hour, Hermes kept Brody working hard, making him sprint and do various other exercises.
Just as Brody was about to ask for a break to catch his breath, Caerus hurried toward Hermes.
"Dionysus has invited us to dine with him," he said.
"Come. Let us see if he has new ideas about how to solve the Heracles problem."
Hermes nodded. "Dionysus is lazy, but he does have a creative mind."
He glanced at Brody. "I'll be back soon. Keep training while I'm gone."
"Okay," Brody said.
But as soon as the two gods were out of sight, Brody collapsed onto the ground near Julia and Markos.
"Wake me up when you see Hermes coming back," he said, closing his eyes.
"Are you sure you don't want to keep training?" Markos sounded nervous.
"Some of the other gods might tell Hermes you disobeyed him."
"Yeah," Julia added. "And I thought you were trying your hardest to beat Heracles."
"I am." Brody opened his eyes and then jumped to his feet.
"Thanks for the reminder, Julia. Back to training. I was just getting in the zone, anyway."
He did a few jumping jacks to get warmed up again, followed by some push-ups.
"Uh-oh!" Julia burst out. "Look who's here."
Brody glanced at the entrance. Heracles and his brother Iphicles had just walked into the gymnasium.
"Zeus isn't with them," Markos whispered. "I'm surprised Zeus would let Heracles out of his sight.
Especially with all the other gods eager to sabotage Heracles."
Brody squared his shoulders. "Hey, loser!" he called to Heracles. "What are you doing here?"
Iphicles frowned. "Who are you calling a loser?" he called back. "My brother is—"
"It's all right, Iphicles." Heracles put a hand on his brother's arm.
Then he nodded at Brody and his friends. "It's good to see you three again."
"Yes." Julia shot Brody a warning look. "It's good to see you too.
Sorry about Brody's outburst. He's kind of competitive."
Heracles smiled. "No hard feelings. We came to take a look at the gymnasium.
Zeus has kept me so deep in the hills, I thought I would never get to see any of Olympia!"
Julia and Markos chuckled, but Brody didn't. Why were the two of them acting so friendly to Heracles?
Brody couldn't imagine being friends with his football team's biggest rivals. In fact, whenever he saw those jerks from Southbridge High—
"I saw you warming up," Heracles suddenly remarked to Brody. "You have good form."
"Oh . . . uh, thanks," Brody said.
"You looked good racing that horse," Julia blurted out. "You can run so fast."
Heracles laughed and looked a little embarrassed. "That was Zeus' idea.
I wish he'd stop making me show off. I'd rather spend my time training."
"You'd better not let Zeus hear you say that, brother," Iphicles warned him.
"True." Heracles chuckled. "Zeus hates when anyone questions him."
"That sounds like Hermes," Brody chimed in. "He orders me around all the time."
Just then a cranky-looking god rushed in with a whoosh of wind.
"Heracles! Zeus wants you to join him in the hippodrome for some more chariot racing."
"Yes, Boreas," Heracles said. Brody thought he saw Heracles sigh.
"I'm coming." He looked at Brody and his friends. "See you later, everyone."
Julia and Markos smiled and waved good-bye, and to his surprise, Brody found himself lifting a hand too.
"See you," Brody said. "Good luck with the training."