Free Curse of the Sphinx by Raye Wagner

The cold rain started in September and continued through the end of June. But it wasn’t the temperature, or the rain, that bothered her. The wind in North Bend was fierce, and as she hugged her clothes to her body, she wished for her winter coat.
    She should’ve driven to school. She usually did, but she walked out the door of the Smiths’ home that morning without her keys, and the constant yelling deterred her from going back in to get them. So she trudged her way back to the house in the cold, wet afternoon, dreading the noise and commotion that would assail her when she entered the door.
    Out of habit, she stopped at the mailbox as she did every day since her hearing. They had appeared in court less than a week ago. Less than a week ago a judge had declared her emancipated, and she was just waiting for the proof in writing. How long could it take to mail a piece of paper? Hope thought it would be a quick process. She’d been wrong.
    And while Priska called every night, her time at the temple of Artemis had yet to expose who was behind her mom’s death.
    She pulled the tab down, put her hand into the metal box, and grabbed the stack of mail. After adjusting the strap of her backpack, she thumbed through the envelopes.
    There! The crisp white paper had her name, Hope N. Treadwell, typed in the middle, the return address King County District Court. Her thumb wiped at her mother’s maiden name. Priska had recommended using it. Just as a precaution. Unconsciously, she dropped the rest of the mail and tore open her envelope. She was so happy she could sing. There it was in black and white, no longer a ward of the state, she was free.
    This would be better. Life would be better. At the very least she wouldn’t have to barricade herself when she changed. She’d hid in her room the last month during the change, yelling at anyone and everyone to leave her alone. She’d pushed every piece of furniture against the door to ensure that they did. The counselor explained her anger was part of the grief process. But it wasn’t grief, it was fear. Fear that someone would discover she was a monster.
    The morphing only lasted two days and one night. The night of a new moon, when Artemis’s power was weakest, and Apollo’s the strongest.
    Now was the time to enact the rest of the plan. She would need to disappear, go into hiding, like she and her mom had done in the past. She needed a place in the middle of nowhere, somewhere the gods, demigods, and Skia would never visit. Somewhere even the humans would leave if they could. There were countless small towns in Eastern Washington. Certainly she could disappear in one.
    She walked through the front door, and the crying from Jameson was coupled with Sammi’s screaming for her doll. She ignored both, going straight to her room and locking the door.
    She pulled up a list and began skimming through the names of towns on the eastern side of the state. Easton, Tullahoma. She scrolled down until . . . Goldendale. Goldendale. She liked the sound of that. A no-rain name. She tapped her phone a few more times and saw an abundance of homes for sale or rent. This could be perfect. Maybe today was her lucky day.
    The listing agent bubbled her enthusiasm through the phone. “I’m so, so excited. This is the first home I’ve rented in years. I’m not sure why no one is moving to Goldendale. It is so, so quaint. I’m sure you will just love it.”
    “Do you live there?”
    “What? Oh gods, no. I’m in Redmond, honey. You couldn’t pay me to live in a small town. But I hear it is really lovely.”
    “How big is it?”
    “Well, let me see.” The clicking of a keyboard kept the silence at bay. “The nearest big city is Portland, but you could get almost anything you need in the Dalles, and that’s just a thirty minute drive. But they have their own school, and two grocery stores.”
    “Do they get many tourists?”
    The agent’s laugh was more derision than humor. “Um, no. With the