Artemis the Brave by Suzanne Williams, Joan Holub

its tail to pry the bow from its jaws. She tumbled end over end through the air, but a few inches from the ground she righted herself, and her sandals stopped her fall. Breathlessly, she zoomed away.
    Two dozen turns later, Artemis found her way to the center of the maze, where she discovered a gurgling fountain. Water spewed from the mouths of a three-headed dragon statue, dripping down its scaly bronze body into a pool that encircled it. One of the dragon’s mouths was open, breathing bronze fire. That particular head seemed somehow familiar. Come to think of it, it looked surprisingly like Professor Ladon. She yanked off her sandals and waded into the fountain. How was she supposed to turn this thing off?
    Boom! Boom! Footsteps. Geryon footsteps this time. The creature was coming after her again.
    She hiked up her chiton and shinnied up the long, slippery, swooping neck of the bronze dragon, searching for the on-off switch. There had to be one, but where was it? Stepping higher, she put her foot in the middle head’s mouth. Yeouch! Dragon teeth, even bronze ones, were sharp! As she moved her foot, she bumped the dragon’s tongue. It dropped lower under her weight like a pump handle. Losing her balance, she slid down the statue and splashed into the pool below.
    Pop! Pop! Pop! Even underwater, the sounds that reached her ears were distinct. She stood again, dripping wet now. Waiting for claws that never came. What had happened to the Geryon?
    “Artemis?” It was Persephone, calling to her from far away.
    “Yes!” she called back.
    “The beasts are gone!” Persephone gleefully informed her.
    “Disappeared in puffs of purple smoke,” Aphrodite shouted. “Are you okay?”
    Artemis breathed a huge sigh of relief. The fountain’s tongue must’ve been the on-off switch for the game! “Yes! I’m coming out,” she yelled. Retracing her path through the labyrinth, she was soon reunited with her friends. They hugged one another in relief.
    “Whew! This was the hardest A I’ve ever earned in Beast-ology,” said Athena. “Or any other class.” Her ankle was fine now. It seemed her wound had instantly disappeared when the monsters went up in smoke.
    “Artemis saved the day,” said Aphrodite. “Our hero!”
    “Hooray for Artemis the brave!” shouted Persephone.
    “Thanks,” said Artemis. Then, in a move that somehow took more courage than anything she’d just done, she admitted something she’d never thought she’d dare to. “To tell you the truth, I was scared spitless.”
    Aphrodite threw an arm around her. “Well, of course you were! We all were. You would have been crazy not to be.”
    She was right, thought Artemis. True bravery didn’t come from being unafraid, but from taking action in spite of fear. In that instant, she realized that she’d probably always been braver than she’d given herself credit for.
    Something nudged Artemis’s hand. Suez. He was holding one of her arrows in his teeth. He and the others were okay! “Good boy!” She gave him a pat. “But I don’t think we have time to retrieve all the arrows. We’ll have to come back later.”
    “Judging by the angle of the sun, school’s over,” said Persephone. “We missed our last class.”
    “Oh no! The play! I’ve got to go or I’ll be late for opening night!” wailed Aphrodite.
    “And I’m supposed to sound the first notes with my flute as the curtain opens!” Athena exclaimed.
    Putting two fingers between her lips, Artemis sounded a sharp, high whistle. From deep within the forest came her four golden-horned deer, pulling her chariot. They looked a little wary.
    “Don’t worry,” Artemis called to them. “The beasts are gone.”
    At her reassurance, they zoomed close and touched down. Artemis hopped into the chariot and grabbed the reins. “Come on,” she told the others, but Aphrodite, Athena, Persephone, and the dogs were already piling in.
    Together they whooshed through the forest. Just before they turned