The next morning, I hummed to myself as I hitched Harley and Davidson to my big VI-seater chariot. I jumped in. Cerberus hopped in beside me. The Furies and Persephone climbed into the backseat, and off we galloped for the River Styx. When we reached the Underworld Gate, I reined in my steeds. “Here we are, ladies.”

“We could have flown,” said Tisi.

“But thanks for the ride, Hades!” said Meg sweetly. As always, she wore her serpents in a perky ponytail.

“Flying would have been much faster,” grumbled Alec. Her snakes are short and stubby and stick straight up all over her head.

“I know, I know,” I said. “But I wanted to say goodbye to Persephone. Going off on one’s first avenging trip is a big deal.” I turned to the goddess of spring. “Well, bye!”

Cerberus had three brains, and he’d figured out that Persephone was leaving. He ran in happy circles around her as she got out of the chariot.

“I’m so excited, Hades,” Persephone said. “I’ll see you later tonight and tell you about it.”

“Ready?” Tisi asked.

“Ready!” Persephone said.

Meg and Alec bent down. They clasped each other’s forearms, making a seat for Persephone. She sat down.

Thwap! Tisi unfurled her great black wings. With a single flap, they lifted her up. Meg and Alec took off next, carrying Persephone. I watched until all I could see of them were dark specks against the Underworld sky.

“Yessss!” I said to myself. “One goddess of the spring, gone for good!”

Cerbie and I got back into my chariot. I whistled to my steeds, and we headed over to Motel Styx. We were cruising around the kingdom as usual, just my dog and me. I could tell Cerberus was happy to have things back to normal. I was too.

It was another crazy day in the Underworld. Charon brought over the rest of the ghosts from the big battle, and Motel Styx filled up again. I made sure things were running as smoothly as possible there, then headed over to the courthouse.

On my way, I glanced over at the Asphodel Fields. I saw the place where Persephone’s footsteps had made the asphodel bloom. The little pink flowers were starting to droop now, but their smell hung in the air. That sweet scent reminded me of Persephone. It had been kind of fun having her around, showing her my kingdom, and answering all of her questions. She seemed happy in the Underworld. If she ever came back, I thought—but I quickly stopped myself. What was wrong with me anyway? I’d just gotten rid of that pesky goddess. The last thing I wanted was to have her back again!

It was nightfall by the time I found a place for all the new ghosts to sleep. I left Hypnos in charge of actually getting them to sleep, and I headed back to Villa Pluto. It had been a long, hard day. I was looking forward to putting my feet up in front of the TV and enjoying a nice cold Necta-Cola.

When I got back to the palace, that’s just what I did. I relaxed into my La-Z-God, and clicked on the tube. I’d finally found the remote on the coffee table, under my Helmet of Darkness. I surfed around for a while, then stopped on the Wrestling Channel. What luck! A really great match was on. “Eagle-Eye” Cyclops was taking on “Hugs” Python. As always, I started rooting for the Cyclops.

“Keep your eye on him, Cyclops!” I yelled at the set. “Come on! You can take the snake!”

The snake was down! The referee started counting: “I! II! III! IV! V!—”

Just then I got the feeling that I was being watched. I glanced quickly over my shoulder. The Furies were home. I flashed on the fact that they were back early. But the wrestling match was in its final seconds, so I didn’t pay much attention. I barely managed a “Hey, ladies.”

“VI!” called the ref. “VII! VIII!”

Behind me, I felt the Furies’ smoldering presence. It wasn’t easy, but I tore my eyes from the screen and looked at them. All three of them stood together, glaring angrily down at me.

An unhappy Fury is a terrible thing.

Three unhappy Furies?

That’s an emergency.

I quickly clicked off the TV. “My own avengers!” I said, hopping out of my chair. “Is something wrong?”

“We carried out your plan, Hades,” said Tisi. Her scorpion-tipped whip was still sticking out of her pocket. “We returned Persephone to her mother.”

“Her mother was so very happy,” said Meg.

“But Persephone was not,” said Alec.

“Well, we expected that, didn’t we? Sit down,” I added, patting the couch. “Start at the beginning. Tell me everything. Whatever’s wrong, I’ll fix it.”

“Oh, thank you, Hades,” said Meg with a sweet, fang-filled smile.

The Furies sat down on the couch. I took a seat facing them.

“We flew up to earth on our mission of vengeance,” Tisi began. “Our first appointment was with a young man in Athens. He had forgotten Mother’s Day.”

Meg sighed. “He hadn’t even sent a card.”

“We flew around him, shrieking and rattling our scourges,” said Alec. “He fell to his knees and begged for mercy.”

“It was a first offense, so we let him off with only a warning,” said Tisi.

“Good judgment call,” I told them.

“Our next appointment was with a young maiden in Athens,” Tisi said. “She had served her mother breakfast in bed.”

“It was a lovely thing to do,” Meg said. “But when the mother came into the kitchen, she found the sink piled high with dirty dishes.”

“Egg stuck on the skillet,” said Alec. “Yecch!”

“Oh, dear,” I said.

“We took the first deed into account,” said Tisi. “We merely hounded the girl from house to house in her neighborhood and made her wash everyone’s dishes.”

“A fitting punishment,” I said.

“Then we flew to Crete,” said Tisi. “Persephone believed we were going to avenge another wrong.”

“We told her to close her eyes,” said Meg. “We said we had a surprise for her.”

“We spotted Demeter sitting on a big stone, weeping,” said Alec. “Even gods and goddesses cower in fear when they see us flying toward them. But Demeter never flinched.”

“We set her daughter down before her,” Tisi said. “Demeter sprang up and wrapped her arms around Persephone.”

“She hugged her daughter for the longest time,” said Meg.

“Like forever!” said Alec.

“Demeter finally let go,” said Tisi, “and Persephone turned toward us.”

“She gave us an awful look,” said Meg.

“A look that said, ‘How could you betray me like this?’” Alec said.

“And for the very first time in our very long lives,” said Tisi, “we three Furies were stricken with alarming pangs of conscience.”

“Conscience?” I said. Who knew Furies even had consciences?

“We are avengers,” said Tisi. “We right wrongs. We settle scores. We inflict terrible punishments on evildoers. But tricking Persephone was the first time we had ever done wrong ourselves.”

“It was unforgivable,” said Meg.

“It was the worst,” said Alec.

I didn’t know what to say. I only hoped they’d get over it—and quickly.

“We could not undo our deed,” Tisi went on. “But we three went to Persephone.”

“We said we were sorry,” said Meg.

“Very sorry,” said Alec.

“We begged Persephone to think of some way for us to make up for what we’d done,” said Tisi. “She thought for a little while. At last she said there was something we could do.”

I felt a knot forming in the pit of my stomach. “And what was that, my most fearful avengers?”

“We are to ask you to come up to earth to have a picnic with Persephone,” said Meg.

“A picnic?” The knot in my stomach tightened.

“She says to come to the field outside Athens where you met her yesterday,” said Tisi. “She’ll bring the food and drinks.”

“All you have to do is show up,” said Alec.

“And be nice to her, Hades,” added Meg. “She likes you!”

My stomach was now one large and complicated knot.

“And when is this event to take place, my lovely vindicators?” I asked.

In one voice, the Furies answered: “Tomorrow.”