Jeremy looked at the map again. It was a long way to Hades’ palace.
“We better rest here for a few minutes,” he said. He looked up.
Aristotle was gone!
“Great!” said Jeremy. He jumped up. “Aristotle! Where did you go?”
Jeremy peered up the narrow dark road that led to the Palace of Hades. Then he looked along the road to the Valley of Heroes. Far away, a pale light glowed in the sky.
An orange tail disappeared around a bend.
“Aristotle!” yelled Jeremy.
He ran after Aristotle. Panting, he caught up to the cat at the fifth bend in the road. “What’s the big idea? Where do you think you’re going?”
Aristotle flicked his tail. “I just want to see the Valley of Heroes. Just one teeny tiny look. Just one—”
Jeremy sighed. The Valley of Heroes was probably just around the corner. “Oh, all right,” he said.
He followed Aristotle. When they reached the last bend in the road, Jeremy stood still.
The Valley of Heroes was beautiful. The sun burst out of the gray gloom. Golden birds sang from the branches of trees. Unicorns with silver horns grazed beside a bubbling stream.
Men in white tunics were gathered around the edge of a large playing field. They were cheering and shouting.
“It’s like Sports Day!” said Jeremy. “And those must be the heroes!”
Jeremy loved Sports Day. He raced to the edge of the crowd. He squeezed between the men. 41
Four runners sprinted down the track with sticks in their hands. The crowd roared. Someone pushed Jeremy forward.
Suddenly one of the racers passed him a stick. He was a huge man with big shoulders. “Run!” he shouted.
Jeremy ran. He ran like the wind. He ran all the way around the track. When he finally stopped, the crowd cheered.
“Hey, Hercules!” someone yelled. “Where did you get your friend?”
Hercules!
Jeremy looked around. The racer who had passed him the stick smiled at him. “Thanks, kid,” he said. “You made us win.”
“You’re Hercules?” stammered Jeremy.
“That’s right.”
“Wow!” said Jeremy.
He had learned about Hercules at school. Hercules was a famous Greek hero!
“Come on!” said Hercules. “We’re going to have a javelin throw next. You can be on my team again.”
Jeremy shook his head sadly. Hercules was so cool. And he loved the Valley of Heroes. But they had to go to Hades’ palace to find Queen Persephone.
Where was Aristotle?
He gazed around. He spotted Aristotle sitting in the grass beside a small clear blue pool.
Jeremy frowned. The pool looked familiar. He pulled out Mr. Magnus’s map and stared at it. His heart thudded.
“The Pool of Forgetfulness,” he read out loud.
Underneath, in his spidery printing, Mr. Magnus had written: Where heroes drink to forget their past lives.
“ARISTOTLE!” shouted Jeremy. “DON’T DRINK THE WATER!”
He ran to the pool.
“Whew!” he said. “Boy, was that ever close! Mr. Magnus said—”
He rolled on his back and purred softly.
Then he said, “Do I know you?”
