Demeter was worried about the contestants, too, but she had to run some errands. When she returned several hours later, she checked out the scrying bowl, but it was late afternoon before another update was offered.
Mercury summarized the day’s activity, ““Bill and Jane spent the morning strategizing about luggage. The only irreplaceable items were the invitation and itinerary, so they brainstormed about how to overcome that obstacle. Bill ended up calling information and getting the number to Ludgar’s office, but whoever answered the phone wasn’t being at all helpful. “
Isis asked, “So it was a dead-end?”
“It was until Bill remembered the name of an employee he’d met once during a visit to Ludgar’s office. Turns out the employee is now Ludgar’s assistant and remembered Bill. She didn’t have much besides a phone number for Ludgar’s parent’s, but it was enough.”
“Enough for what,” Zeus wanted to know.
“Enough to take the score above one thousand. When Hera learned about it, she called Bacchus and berated him for pulling that dirty trick last night.”
Zeus asked, “How did Hera find out about the points? We haven’t had any updates and she didn’t ask about it when I was home for lunch.”
“I have to admit; I took advantage of the lull and visited her,” Mercury said with a sheepish look on his face. “I didn’t want to interrupt the program in progress, so I just whipped over and filled her in.” Sounding a bit more confident, he continued, “You know, she did tell us she wanted to help this couple.”
Demeter recognized the set of Zeus’s jaw. Somewhere in the world, a thunder storm was washing away a village.
“And then she called Bacchus?” Isis prompted.
Mercury nodded, “He was at home suffering from an awful hangover. At first, he didn’t remember anything, but when Hera got through with him, he was ready to do whatever she suggested. Good thing, too. Otherwise, that luggage would have been lost for weeks and the paperwork alone would have been a nightmare.”
Demeter shouted to the scyring bowl, “Brava Hera!”
Zeus was still visibly miffed, so Isis continued, “Really? Where was the luggage?”
“In another airline’s baggage area. Bacchus got one of his worshippers to find it.”
That got Zeus’s attention, “He still has worshippers?”
“Not in the traditional sense of course, no temples or sacrifices, but they do drink together,” Mercury explained, “Anyway, Bacchus whispered a suggestion into the baggage handler’s ear and convinced the handler a bottle was hidden near the spot where Bacchus dropped the bags.”
“Good move,” Isis said.
Mercury continued,” When the handler found the bags instead of a drink, he didn’t want to do all the paperwork; so he just threw the bags on a luggage carrier and drove them over to the other airline.”
Zeus said, “Do our contestants know they’ve been found?”
“Bill and Jane have called the airlines from a pay phone every half hour,” Mercury said, “They’re on their way to get their luggage right now.”
“Well then, Bacchus certainly redeemed himself,” Isis said.
Zeus added, “Maybe so, but I think Mercury should be penalized for going to see Hera.”
“I’m not a contestant. If you can throw storms at them, I can deliver messages. It’s part of my responsibilities.”
“Well, you could have gone straight to Bacchus. I mean you’re both Roman gods. You had no business going to my house and talking to my wife!” Zeus was incensed, but his fury tickled Demeter.
Isis interjected, “OK guys. Let’s see what our contestants do with the luggage now that they have it.”
jane sadek 