I caught up with Hercules and the others. For a change, I walked with them to Elis. All I knew about King Augeias was that he owned a lot of cattle. And twelve prized white bulls sacred to Helios, the sun god. But as we went, we heard an earful about what to expect when we reached Augeias’s stables.

“The stables are that way,” said a group of hikers we’d stopped and asked for directions. “Hope you brought your nose plugs.”

“Headed for the stables, eh?” said an old woman we met crossing a bridge over the River Alpheus. “I’d turn back if I were you.”

“The stables?” said some ancient Greek picnickers we met as we waded across the Peneius River at a shallow spot. They shook their heads. “No way!”

When we reached Elis, we didn’t need to ask directions anymore. We just followed our noses halfway up a mountainside to King Augeias’s estate. The whole place stank to high Mount Olympus.

The king lived in a big blue stone palace. His stables stretched from the very top of the mountain all the way down to the bottom.

Hercules strode up to the palace. “Hello, King Augeias!” he shouted.

For a while, no one answered him. Then the head of an ancient mortal appeared at an upper window. The crown on his head told us that we’d found the king.

“Are you rabble rousers?” the monarch called. “Come to make trouble for an old king?”

“No, sir!” said Hercules.

“Speak up!” said the old king.

“I have been sent to clean out your stables!” shouted Hercules.

“Ah!” said the king. “For XX years, I have prayed to Hera to send a stable cleaner my way. At last! My prayers have been answered.”

Hercules swallowed. XX years?

“Go on, then,” said the old king. “Get to it.”

“Sir?” said Hercules. “Tell me—how can you stand the stink?”

“Can’t hear you!” shouted the old king. “I’ve lost my hearing now, along with my sense of smell. Speak up!”

Ah, that explained it.

“Never mind,” said Hercules. “I’m on it.”

We walked up the mountain to the first stable. Hercules opened the door. The stench was so powerful, it knocked us all off our feet.

“Ugh!” said Hercules. “These stables are worse than I thought.”

“Much worse,” said Cee, who looked as if he might pass out.

Hydra pinched two of her noses.

I had to agree with them. These stables were worse than anything I’d imagined.

The poor cattle! They were standing up to their necks in muck. But they must have been used to it, for they calmly chewed on their hay from racks attached to the stable walls at head level. Some of them might have been the white bulls of Helios. But in all that muck, who could tell?

“Anybody see a shovel?” asked Hercules. Our hero was ready to start mucking.

“Hercules, even you can’t possibly shovel out all these stables in a single day,” Cee pointed out.

“I have to,” said Hercules. “Or I will have failed at my labors.”

While they argued, I assessed the situation. It looked pretty grim.

Suddenly, Hydra started making wild gestures.

“What are you doing, Hydra?” asked Hercules.

Hydra kept gesturing.

“She’s trying to tell us something,” said Cee. “But what?”

No one could figure out what she meant.

Hercules brightened. “Are you playing charades?”

Hydra nodded eagerly. She held up two fingers, pulled on an ear, and spread her arms wide.

“Two words,” said Hercules. “First one sounds like ‘big.’ Pig? Jig? Rig?”

Hydra shook her heads. She pretended to—what? Shovel something?

“Dig!” said Hercules.

Hydra’s heads nodded. She held up two fingers.

“Second word,” said Hercules.

Hydra pointed north to the Alpheus River. Then to the Peneius River to the west.

Technically, pointing is not allowed in charades. But no one objected.

“River!” shouted Hercules. “Dig river!”

All Hydra’s heads started nodding like crazy.

“Are you saying,” said Cee, “that Hercules should dig new channels for the two rivers and get them to flow through the stables and wash them out?”

Hydra nodded so vigorously that several of her heads knocked together.

I smiled. Hydra wasn’t much to look at, but with all those heads, she sure had a lot of brain power. She’d just come up with a brilliant idea. There was only one problem with it: Hercules couldn’t possibly dig fast enough to divert those rivers in a single day.

Luckily, I, too, had a brilliant idea.

“Be back in a flash,” I told Hercules.

“Don’t you want to dig a little first?” hinted Hercules.

“Later,” I said. I knew Hercules thought I was trying to get out of helping him. But I also knew he’d thank me later. I walked swiftly to the Alpheus River and astro-traveled to its source.

ZIP!

There sat Alpheus, the river god, himself. He was young, as river gods go, and handsome. He had a full head of red hair and a bushy red beard.

“Alpheus?” I said. “Hades here.”

Alpheus’s watery blue eyes opened wide in surprise. “Hades!” he boomed. “Greetings. What an unexpected surprise. How’s your brother Poseidon? That rascal hasn’t been around to see me for years. Did you see my current today? It’s full of the most enticing ripples.”

River gods, as a rule, are very full of themselves, and Alpheus was no exception.

He leaned forward. “You know the goddess Artemis?”

“Well enough,” I told him.

Alpheus sighed. “She splashed across me this morning, chasing a herd of antelope. It was a thrill, having her lovely feet running along my pebbles!”

I’d heard that Alpheus had a big crush on Artemis. Evidently it was true.

“I’m hoping she’ll come this way again on her way back to her hunting lodge,” said Alpheus. “Maybe she won’t be in such a hurry. Maybe she’ll do a little wading.”

“She’ll probably go home by way of King Augeias’s place,” I said. “It’s quicker.”

Alpheus raised his bushy red eyebrows. “Really? That’s just beyond my banks.”

“You could overflow your banks and get closer to the palace,” I suggested. “That wouldn’t be hard for a powerful river god like you. Then she’d have to cross you again.”

Alpheus frowned. “Are you talking flood here?”

I shrugged. “It would be a bold move on your part,” I told him. “But that’s just the sort of move Artemis really goes for.”

Alpheus started nodding. “You know, I think you’re on to something.” He stood up. “Excuse me, will you Hades?”

He raised his great, muscular arms and dove into his own waters.

I quickly chanted again.

ZIP!

I landed at the headwaters of the Peneius River. And there was Peneius, sitting on his moss-covered stone throne. He was staring moodily into the eddies of his water. His hair and beard had gone completely white since the last time I’d seen him. He gave a start when I appeared.

“Hades!” he said when he realized who it was. “Well, I’ll be dammed. Ha-ha! Just a little river-god joke. Get it? So what brings you out this way?”

“Just checking on some earthly matters,” I told him. “How are things with you, Peneuis?”

“Same old, same old,” said Peneuis. “Can’t complain, really. But if I could, I’d say I’m flowing a little low these days. A little low and a little slow. I’m not the river I once was, Hades.”

“Hey, that’s not what I heard,” I told him. “Why, I’ll bet you could still overflow your banks if you wanted to. Get a little choppy. Muster up a few whitecaps.”

Peneius shook his white-maned head. “I don’t know.”

“Alpheus is only a little younger than you are,” I pointed out. “And he’s flooding today.”

“Alpheus?” Peneius sat straight up in his throne. “You know that for a fact?”

“Saw him dive into his river with my own eyes,” I said. “He was going to try to send a stream rushing down through King Augeias’s property.”

“No kidding.” Peneius was wide awake now.

“You could flood there, too,” I said. “And if, at the end of the day, some of his waters happened to end up in your river and raised your water level . . . well, it wouldn’t be your fault.”

“I’d have high waters again,” said Peneius, half to himself. “Good to talk to you, Hades. Very helpful.” He stood up, swinging his arms in preparation for a swan dive. “Send my best to that brother of yours, won’t you? Now, if you’ll excuse me?”

“Go ahead,” I said. “Have a great flood!”

ZIP!

I went straight back to Hercules. He was digging on the banks of the Alpheus River for all he was worth. Cee was digging beside him. Hydra was mapping out how the canal should flow.

“Flood warning,” I told him. “The rivers are about to flow through the stables.”

“Hercules!” said Cee. “Go tell the cattle to grab their feed troughs with their teeth, and hold on tight. Hurry!”

“Moooo! Maaaa maaaah mooo!” Hercules cried as he ran off to spread the word.

Soon a rushing, roaring sound filled the air. Then, from the crest of the hill, came two giant waves. Hercules was a powerful swimmer. I knew he’d be okay. But Cee was a lion—a big cat—and had a cat’s fear of water. Hydra would survive any flood, but I worried that she might get battered. So, though it was against the rules of How Immortals Can and Can’t Help Mortals, I put my arms around those two and chanted again.

ZIP!

We landed on the roof of King Augeias’s palace. And from there, we had the perfect view of the raging rivers whooshing down the hill. Their clear waters rushed into the stables. Minutes later, thick, gooey glop flowed out of the stables at the bottom of the hill. In an hour the whole thing was over.

Hydra remembered to snap a picture: CLICK! Buzzzzzz. It was a perfect shot.

This time, as Hercules walked through the gates of Mycenae, he had no monster to show off to the crowds. Still, the mortals cheered him. He didn’t need a monster anymore. Hercules had grown stronger and more muscular with every labor. Now, he was the main attraction.

“You’re our hero, Hercules!” shouted the bystanders.

“Eury!” called Hercules, rapping on the big bronze pot. “Come and see the picture of the nice, clean stables!”

“Slide it to me,” said Eury. He opened the slot. Hercules stuck in the picture.

“Can’t believe it,” Eury muttered. “But I’ll check it off.”

I was wearing my helmet. I didn’t want Eury to know I was giving Hercules a hand. But fall was almost over. I’d promised Persephone I’d be home by the first day of winter. Time was running out. I had to speed things up, so I took a chance and called invisibly, “Give him his next labor!”

“Here you go,” said Eury. He laughed again as he pushed a little roll of parchment through the slot. “Good luck with the birdies!”