Chapter 17

The Titans, who had investigated both snacks and glasses with deep suspicion, had now relaxed somewhat and were beginning to talk excitedly. One or two of the children went wandering off, not liking the strange food and much more interested in exploring.

"It's all right," Athena said to a worried-looking Rena. "There isn't anything that can hurt them." She paused. "Unless they go too near the edge."

Rena smiled. "They wouldn't be so stupid. But what about those things?"

She had turned and was pointing at the shuttle and the pods.

"They're only" She hesitated, completely unable to explain the concept of a machine. "They're not alive. They are " She wondered whether these people had any kind of transport. They didn't even seem to have horses, let alone carts. She shrugged and carried on, " not dangerous."

Rena relaxed slightly.

"But this is a terrible place," she said, hugging herself and gazing around the camp in wonder. "The giant fish and the beetles, the square crags and the great mushrooms."

"Mushrooms?" Athena repeated, baffled.

"There!" Rena was pointing at the tents. Athena laughed.

"Those are our sleeping places," she said. "I suppose they do look like mushrooms. I never thought of that before. Come with me and I'll show you."

Rena hung back, shaking her head and trembling.

Before Athena could make any attempt to persuade her, Artemis grabbed her by the arm. "Ask him what she's called," she said.

"Ask who what who is called?"

"Prometheus. The dog."

"Oh, right."

With an apologetic smile for Rena, Athena went over to Prometheus.

"He says she is called Selena. It means 'Moon'. But he says she has no secret name. It's up to you to give her her secret name."

"Whatever does he mean? Why me?"

"He says she belongs to you now. You saved her, that means you are responsible for her and the puppies," she added.

"Does he mean it?" Artemis asked.

"Of course he means it."

"Tell him thank you. Tell him I am overwhelmed by his generosity. Tell him I will be good to her."

Prometheus shrugged.

"I do not give her. She is not mine to give. She gives herself."

Artemis barely stopped herself from kissing him. Instead she bent down to look at Yorgo, who was sitting at Prometheus' feet, gazing at his master. The old dog looked exhausted. The long journey up the mountain had taken its toll. He was on his last legs.

"Just a minute."

She jumped up and ran to her tent. Prometheus watched in amazement as she ducked down and disappeared into one of the mushrooms. A minute later she was back with her special sack. She took out a tiny stick wrapped in a white leaf, tore off the leaf and, holding Yorgo's jaw with one hand, put the stick in his mouth, made a swift, neat movement and pulled it out again.

"Good boy," she said to a surprised Yorgo. "Give him a treat."

Prometheus, speechless, watched as she walked back to the mushroom, holding the stick aloft like a spear.

"Do you think he'd like one of these?" asked Athena, looking dubiously at the little pastries. "Yorgo will eat absolutely anything," Prometheus assured her.

And indeed, he accepted the proffered treat with every appearance of enthusiasm, wolfing it down in one.

"He can't taste it, surely, when he eats it that fast."

Prometheus shrugged, not taking his eyes off Artemis' mushroom, trying to work out how she disappeared like that.

"All dogs eat like that," he said, wondering anew at these strange beings who did not hunt and had never seen live animals before.

"Artemis hunts," Athena said, as if catching his thought. "It's just I never have."

A few minutes later Artemis came back with a broad smile on her face. One minute she wasn't there, then she just rose out of the mushroom.

"They're virtually identical!" she exclaimed.

Then she bent down again to Yorgo. "Good boy," she said, "Keep still now." And she took up some of the loose skin near his neck and slipped a needle under the fur. "There," she said, with an air of intense satisfaction. "That will put paid to his arthritis. Give him another treat."

Athena dutifully swiped another pastry from the table. There were plenty left. The Titans had treated them with utter disdain.

"Now," Artemis said, pulling out a small phial from her bag. "Tell him to give Yorgo a drop of this every day, like so." She uncapped the phial and shook a small drop into the palm of her hand, then offered it to the old dog to lick. He sniffed it suspiciously, then licked it up. Went on licking, in fact, long after every molecule must have gone, until Artemis' hand was wet and pink with his efforts. Then he sat back on his haunches and seemed to laugh, his jaws open and his eyes bright. Prometheus, bemused, took the phial and turned it over in his hand. It was made of the same strange invisible stuff as the drinking cups and you could quite clearly see the liquid inside. It was colourless and very slightly cloudy, like water with a bit of milk in it. He turned to look at Athena, his eyebrows raised in a question. "A tiny drop? Every day?"

Athena nodded.

"What is it for?"

Athena asked Artemis. "She says it will make him younger."

The mother dog shifted slightly, dislodging one of the puppies, which mewled and struggled to find the nipple again, his back legs pummelling away until he was once more safely attached.

How can she bear it? Athena wondered. I would HATE to have things sucking at my chest.

She crossed her arms protectively over that area and shuddered slightly.

Prometheus had fallen silent and was gazing out over the camp, his eyes ranging over the newly-erected community building and the half-built houses round about. Athena suddenly saw it the way he was seeing it, as an alien, terrifying place, full of things that could not be explained.

"We must return tomorrow," he said, still looking out at the camp.

"Oh!" It came out as a hurt little cry and Prometheus turned to look at her, surprised.

"There is nothing to eat here," he said. "We must go further down, where the game is. And we must return to the last camp. We left some stores there." He looked into the distance again, taking in the huge silver fish and the line of beetles, and beyond them, the sea. "Soon it will be winter and we must make for the winter camp. And," his face lit up for a moment, "my brother will have returned from the manhood training."

Athena felt a bitter stab of jealousy. How wonderful it must be to have a brother or sister to share things with. She didn't even have anyone her own age to talk to. In fact, Prometheus and Pandora were the only people ever that she had met who were her own age.

"I will miss you," she said in a quiet voice.

A look of alarm passed over his face. "Will you not continue to watch over us?"

"But─" Athena stopped. How on earth could she watch over them when she wouldn't know where they were, never mind all the problems of getting away without her father or Hestia noticing?

Artemis put her hand out. "Wait, I have an idea. Come with me."

She pulled Athena over towards the tents. "We could collar him."

"What!" Athena was horrified. "Like an animal?"

"No, like a prince. You could present him with the collar as a gift from the goddess to her favoured subject. It would not only keep track of him, but would protect him. Nobody is going to mess with someone who wears the goddess's collar."

Athena thought about it. There was that horrible hairy man who had thrown the stone blocks. Him and his nasty gang of thugs. Prometheus thought they had left the Tribe for good. But what if they came back? That man had no respect even for Pandora. The collar might be a good idea.

"Maybe we should give one to Pandora as well."

Artemis smiled, "No, I have a better idea for Pandora.