Free Love or Fate by Clea Hantman Page A

before.
    The bath that Era had conjured up was longgone. All that remained was a small puddle of lavender bubbles.
    I’d failed. Our escape had failed miserably, and now we were faced with Polly’s biggest fear: the Furies were actually more angry, more enraged than before. Maybe she had been right. Maybe things could get worse.
     
    It is here you will stay, in this tiresome abode,
    For thinking you can turn me into a dead toad.
     
    Tizzie was speaking; her sisters just stood on either side of her, their hands placed confidently on their hips, their gazes burning a hole right between my eyes.
     
    You thought it was bad, but thanks to your boldness
    We’re shrinking the space and
increasing the coldness!
     
    At these words the temperature seemed to drop another twenty degrees. The room, which was already incredibly smushed, shrank even more right before our eyes.
     
    We’re going to leave you with jobs aplenty,
    Thirty-two thousand, three hundred and twenty.
     
    Well, at least that was no big shock. We were already expecting to do their chores for all eternity. But now, apparently, the chores were numbered on a giant scroll, which the Furies dropped at our feet at that moment. Then they left the room, laughing, slamming the big, thick door behind them. It locked with a giant click.
    “No!” I yelled, banging my fists against the door in pure frustration. I tried my powers on the lock, but nothing. I guess they were gone again. OH! To have freedom within our reach, and then to have it ripped away again. It was too much to take.
    I looked down at my timepiece. There was little time left, perhaps seven or eight hours. That probably wasn’t even enough time to make it through the maze, even if we hadn’t been locked in a freezing cold cell with no way out.
    “Daddy,” I whispered. And then, even quieter, “Apollo.”
    Then I leaned my head against the door and cried.
    Sometimes sisters know exactly what to do to make you feel better. At that moment I felt two sets of warm arms around me.
    “It’s okay,” Polly said.
    “Yeah, we’ll be okay,” Era added.
    I turned to both of them and squeezed themtight. “I’m sorry, I know it’s my fault. I got you in this mess. I’m so very, very sorry.”
    “I’m sorry I got so caught up in my bath,” said Era. “I love you both dearly. Dearly!”
    “Yes, yes, I love you both, too. Very much,” said Polly. “We mustn’t work against each other. We must help each other. Who knows how long we may be here?”
    “I’m afraid,” said Era with wide eyes, “we may be here forever, just as they said.”
    “I’m afraid you may be right,” agreed Polly. “If Father could have rescued us, I suspect he would have done it already.” Her eyes drifted to her wrist, and we sat there silently. “Oh, he should have been here by now!” she cried.
    “You know,” I said, “I could take the cleaning all day long and into the night. I could, I really could. But I can’t bear the thought of not seeing my friends again. And our other dear sisters! And Apollo!”
    “I cannot bear the idea of never seeing another tree,” said Polly. “Or Pegasus!”
    “Oh, yes, Pegasus,” we all concurred.
    “It’s just that it is so cold and unfriendly here. So dark and dead. I want to see life!” Polly had a single tear rolling down her cheek.
    “Well,” said Era, “I don’t think I can bear to be without clean beautiful clothes. And a fluffy bed.And my nettle leaf shampoo. And boys! I mean, maybe I could clean all day if I knew that in the end, I could make myself all pretty and then have a dance or two around a ballroom with a handsome young man.”
    We all laughed. Even Era. The idea of going to a ball in Hades after a day of cleaning the Furies’ clothes was, well, humorous, in a sad sort of way.
    “I think I know how we can get through this. But we all must do our part,” said Polly.
    “You know a way out?” I cried.
    “No, Thalia. I didn’t mean to get your hopes