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did!’ Finlay pulled the letter out of his pocket. ‘Cos if you said no we might just have to show this to your mum and Max’s mum. Right, Max?’
    Max grinned and nodded. ‘Yep, that’s right.’ He looked at Zoë. ‘Little snuggly squoogles … ’
    Zoë gasped and her face turned as red as a tomato. ‘You went through my bag! You … you …’
    â€˜What’s it to be?’ Finlay interrupted. ‘We get to use your bag for today –you can have it and the letter back this evening – or we show the letter now?’
    Zoë glanced round to where Michelle and the two mums were about to go into the maze. ‘Oh, OK, then,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘You keep the bag, but I want it back by this evening.’
    â€˜Deal,’ Max said quickly.
    â€˜And don’t do anything gross with it!’ she added.
    â€˜It’s OK,’ said Fin, grinning. ‘We only want it to keep some dead bird skins safe.’
    â€˜Ha, ha, you are just
so
funny, Finlay.’ Zoë gave them a furious look and then turned and stomped off.
    Max’s mum stopped by the maze entrance. ‘Are you coming in as well, boys?’
    Max and Finlay shook their heads firmly.
    â€˜I’ve had enough of mazes for one day,’ Max muttered to Finlay.
    â€˜I’ve got my pocket money with me,’ Finlay said. ‘Let’s go and get an ice cream!’

CHAPTER NINE

BACK TO THE CASTLE
    After lunch, Auntie Carol drove them all home. To Max’s relief, his mum said he and Finlay could go up to the castle.
    They raced up the path. As they ran over the bridge there was a loud bang and the bag suddenly got lighter on Max’s back. He opened the top. ‘The skins have gone!’ he exclaimed.
    They hurried in through thegatehouse. Juno was standing in the middle of the keep. She looked furious. ‘You have completed the task!’
    The boys stopped warily by the gatehouse wall. ‘Yes,’ Max said.
    â€˜Bah!’ Juno spat.
    Max felt a warm swirling sensation in his chest and a flood of golden light burst out of him. He felt dizzy. The superpower had gone! It streamed across the keep and hit the inner wall of the tower opposite.
    Almost immediately the bricks crumbled. The boys saw Hercules look out.
    â€˜You did it!’ Hercules exclaimed triumphantly. ‘My superpower has returned to me!’
    They raced over to him. His face waslooking less lined and his eyes glowed golden. ‘You killed the Stymphalian Birds and brought back their skins!’ he said. ‘How did you do it?’
    â€˜It wasn’t easy,’ Max said, shivering at the memory. ‘We had to use an axe and a disc and hide in a maze …’ He and Finlay quickly told Hercules what they’d done.
    Hercules smiled from one to the

    other. ‘You used all your strengths. You worked as a team, battling side by side, trusting each other. You did very well.’
    â€˜Those birds were mean!’ Finlay said. ‘It was the hardest task yet.’
    Juno strode towards them, her eyes flashing fire. ‘You will not be saying that tomorrow! In the morning, you must fetch me the three golden apples of the gods. It is a task that requires great courage and wisdom. You must solve a riddle to help you steal the apples. Make one mistake and …’ she looked from one to the other, ‘a fate
worse
than death awaits.’
    â€˜We won’t make a mistake!’ Finlay told her.
    â€˜No,’ Max said, moving so they were standing side by side. ‘We’re going toget Hercules another of his superpowers back.’
    â€˜I doubt it very much,’ Juno sneered.
    â€˜You have been wrong evey day so far, Juno,’ Hercules said in his deep voice.
    â€˜Silence!’ Juno clapped her hands and the stones closed over his face. She looked at the boys. ‘I hope you like dogs!’
    Laughing evilly she