Read Online Fort Morgan by Claudia Hall Christian - Free Book Online

on,” Perses
said.
    Sandy opened the USB drive and held the end
to the sword.
    Nothing happened.
    The tiny serpents attacked Sandy. Perses
threw down his sword to grab a canister of hairspray. He fought to
keep the tiny serpents away from Sandy.
    “ Don’t give up!” Alex
yelled.
    Straining to hear anything, Sandy heard only
the steady stream of hairspray, the louder gas-propelled flow if
the military flame throwers, and the grunts from the fighting
people around her.
    Then there was a
“ tap, tap, tap ”
sound.
    The hairspray streamed. The flame throwers
burned gas. The people grunted.
    And the symphony began. The music rose in
volume until it echoed through the bowl.
    “ What
the . . .?” Hera asked.
    The tiny serpents were not motionless. They
floated in the air. The soldiers burned swathes of them. King
Manannán and his army batted them out of the air.
    “ Are they dead?” Jill
asked.
    “ Asleep, Mommy,” Katy
said.
    “ Look at Celeste!” Abi
screamed from her tiny form.
    Celeste had also stopped moving. She seemed
completely overcome by the music. Her magical beauty enhancements
slipped to show a plain woman with a slightly hunched back.
    “ She must have one of
those creatures inside,” Fin said.
    “ You’ve said as much
before, son,” King Manannán said. “You were right.”
    “ Hedone?” Hera asked.
“It’s your turn.”
    Heather nodded.
    “ You
know . . .” Hera started.
    “ I’ve got this!” Heather
said.
    Heather closed her eyes.
    “ You have
to . . .” Hera started again.
    “ I’ve got this,” Heather
snapped.
    Heather gave Hera a hard look and returned
to her meditation. After a moment, she opened her eyes.
    “ Hey!” Jill said as Perses
stepped out of the amber sand.
    Perses walked to Jill and helped her out of
the amber sand. He then helped Sandy and Hera.
    “ Jill!” Heather yelled.
Perses helped her out of the sand. She nodded her thanks, and then
called, “Sandy! Tanesha! I need your help. Yours too,
Perses.”
    “ Of course,” he
said.
    “ What can we do?” Tanesha
asked. She flew over and landed on Heather’s shoulder.
    “ We need to pull our
friends from the Sea of Amber,” Heather said. “Our friends and
family first, then anyone else before the symphony
ends.”
    “ Hurry!” Hera
yelled.
    “ First,” Heather said,
“Perses? Hera? On my mark, we must call to him.”
    “ Who?” Tanesha asked, but
her words were lost.
    “ Zeus! Hear me now!” Hera
called.
    “ Zeus!” Perses
said.
    Heather clapped her hands together. Much to
their amazement, the torso of a man appeared in the sand. He was
emaciated. His hair was long and disheveled. Perses grabbed his
arms and pulled him from the sand. He shook himself from head to
toe like a dog. Liquid amber came off him and hung in the air.
After a moment, it dropped to the ground.
    “ Hera,” Zeus
said.
    “ That’s Zeus?” Sandy
asked.
    “ He’s been stuck there for
most of time,” Heather said.
    “ All those stories about
him?” Sandy asked.
    Zeus gave Hera a tender hug. In her arms, he
was restored to a handsome man.
    “ Some are true. Hera made
up about half of them up to cover for him being here,” Heather
said. She cleared her throat. “We don’t have a lot of time. Hera!
Zeus!”
    The Olympians turned to her.
    “ Jacob! Delphie! Keenan!
Rodney!” Heather called. “Come to my voice!”
    Nothing happened.
    “ Join me in the call!”
Heather said.
    “ Jacob!” Jill yelled at
the same time Katy screamed, “Daddy!”
    Nothing. They stared in shock and despair at
the spot of amber goo. Suddenly, a hand the size of a frying pan
shot out of the sand.
    “ Dad!” Tanesha
yelled.
    Fin grabbed Rodney’s hand and pulled. His
father took the other side. Soon, Rodney’s head was above the amber
sand.
    “ I have them all!” Rodney
said. “You have to help!”
    “ Just love them,” Heather
said. “I love you, Rodney Smith!”
    He shot out of the sand. He reached his hand
in and