From her seat in the stadium, Julia watched Poseidon stride over to Zeus.
"Congratulations, brother," Poseidon said in his deep voice. "It seems your champion remains undefeated."
"Indeed." Zeus puffed out his chest and grinned.
"And he'll stay that way—mark my words."
Hera narrowed her eyes. "We shall see, husband," she said.
Her voice was cold and angry. "The Games aren't over yet."
"That's right." Demeter was standing nearby with a mysterious smile on her face.
She stroked the sheaf of wheat she was holding.
"Beware, Zeus. Anything can happen in the next few events."
Julia kept her eyes on Demeter for a moment. The dolichos was the next event.
It was the longest footrace, taking runners out of the stadium and through the surrounding hills.
Then, sticking to the plan that she and the others had made last night, Julia got up.
She picked up the sack at her feet and headed for an exit.
She was careful to slip behind the gods so they wouldn't spot her carrying something.
She especially didn't want Hermes to notice her.
"Julia."
Suddenly feeling a hand on her arm, Julia froze. But it was only Iphicles.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he whispered, casting a look at the gods. "Maybe I should go instead. It's safer."
"Thanks, Iphicles, but no." Julia shook her head. "Zeus might notice you're gone."
Iphicles grimaced. "That's unlikely. Must I remind you that Zeus notices almost nothing except my brother?"
"True," Julia said. "But we should play it safe.
And we all agreed last night that no one would notice if I left the Games."
Iphicles still looked concerned.
"I'll be fine," Julia added in a whisper. She lifted the sack slightly.
"Don't worry, I can do this. I'm just glad we realized in time that Demeter had changed her original plan.
I thought she was going to make the wheat sticky."
Julia suddenly remembered how she'd seen Iphicles the night before in the moonlight.
"Oh, and speaking of last night, I saw you and . . ." Just then Hermes glanced over at the two of them.
"Never mind," Julia said quickly. "I have to get out of here!"
Iphicles nodded and Julia continued on toward the exit.
As soon as she was outside the stadium, she felt a little safer.
She glanced at the marked track, which wound its way through the city and into the hills.
Julia started jogging along the track. The sack was heavy, and Julia wasn't used to running in sandals.
Within a few minutes, she was out of breath and had a stitch in her side.
"How does Brody do it?" she muttered, shifting the sack to her other side.
Luckily she hadn't bumped into anyone yet.
She knew she looked strange carrying a mysterious bundle.
Soon Julia stopped, leaned over, and rested her hands on her knees to catch her breath.
But she didn't dare stop for long. The runners would be coming soon.
And if Julia hadn't reached the right spot by then, Heracles would have little chance of finishing the race.
So she picked up the sack and started jogging again, ignoring her racing heart and sweaty forehead.
She ran out of town and up a series of hills.
Finally she spotted a hill with a crooked tree near the top. She was almost there now.
Moments later Julia crested the hill and smiled with relief.
Spread out before her at the foot of the hill was a broad, flat meadow of short grass.
This meadow was where she needed to be.
Finally she could rest and wait for the runners to reach her.
She ran down to the meadow and scouted the area for a hiding place.
Spotting a clump of tall weeds, she flopped to the ground behind it.
She reached into the sack for the object inside.
As she pulled it out, she heard pounding footsteps coming from above, on the hill. The runners were already here!
Julia leaped to her feet. She could see that Heracles was in the lead, just as she'd expected.
He came sprinting down the hill and slowed slightly when he reached the meadow.
As he glanced around, Julia stepped into view. Heracles smiled when he saw her.
He kept coming, running across the short grass.
But the grass didn't stay short for long; as soon as Heracles' foot touched it, the grass started growing.
It grew taller and taller, quickly turning the golden color of mature wheat.
Within seconds the wheat was nearly as tall as Heracles himself.
"Heracles!" Julia cried, barely able to see the runners through the still-growing wheat.
"I've got it!" She plunged forward, clutching the sack.
Inside was a curved sickle, which Markos had assured her was all that Heracles would need to combat Demeter's new prank.
Julia could barely see a thing through the tall wheat, though she heard confused cries from the arriving runners.
Then she heard footsteps behind her. Spinning around, she saw Demeter's champion sprinting toward the edge of the meadow.
"Obviously Demeter warned him about what was coming," Julia thought.
The athlete was running away from the rapidly growing wheat.
She called Heracles' name again.
"Julia!" He finally heard her. "I'm over here!"
"Coming!" Julia pushed forward and saw Heracles again.
She handed him the sickle, and he nodded his thanks.
Then he turned and slashed at the wheat, quickly clearing himself a path through it. Brody was right behind Heracles.
"Good job, Julia," Brody called as he ran after Heracles, following the path the hero had cleared. "We did it again!"
"Yeah!" Julia watched until the boys were out of sight.
Then she found her way back to the hill and returned to the stadium.
She arrived out of breath and exhausted. But she arrived in time to see Zeus still celebrating Heracles' latest victory.