SUNSPEAKER, percy jackson.

0𝟏𝟎. top ten moments before disaster

ten
top ten moments before disaster

LENNON HAD KNOWN ANNABETH FOR A LONG TIME, and as long as she'd known her, she had never heard many good things about him (nor had Annabeth heard good about Lennon's mother, but that was neither here nor there), so she definitely wasn't expecting Dr. Chase to open the door in an old fashioned aviator cap and goggles.

"Hello," he said in a friendly voice, "Are you delivering my airplanes?"

They looked at each other warily. Percy was the one to speak up. "Um, no, sir,"

"Drat," he said. "I need three more Sopwith Camels."

"Right," Percy spoke unsurely. "We're friends of Annabeth."

"Annabeth?" He straightened as if someone had just given him an electric shock. "Is she all right? Has something happened?"

None of them answered, but their faces must've told him that something was very wrong. He took off his cap and goggles. He had hair like Annabeth. His shirt was buttoned wrong, so one side of his collar stuck up higher than the other side. "You'd better come in," he said.

As they stepped into his home, they were hit with the smell of freshly-baked cookies, and jazz music coming from the kitchen. There were LEGO robots on the stairs and two cats sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The coffee table was stacked with magazines, and a little kid's winter coat was spread on the floor. It seemed like a happy, messy home.

"Dad!" a little boy screamed. "He's taking apart my robots!"

"Bobby," Dr. Chase called absently, "don't take apart your brother's robots."

"I'm Bobby," the little boy protested. "He's Matthew!"

"Matthew," Dr. Chase called, "don't take apart your brother's robots!"

"Okay, Dad!"

Dr. Chase turned to us. "We'll go upstairs to my study. This way."

"Honey?" a woman called. Annabeth's stepmom appeared in the living room, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied in a bun. "Who are our guests?" she asked. "

"Oh," Dr. Chase said. "This is..." He stared at them blankly.

"Frederick," she chided. "You forgot to ask them their names?"

They introduced themselves uneasily, but Mrs. Chase seemed nice. She'd asked them if they were hungry and told them she'd bring them some cookies, sandwiches, and sodas.

"Dear," Dr. Chase said. "They came about Annabeth."

Lennon half expected Mrs. Chase to go crazy at the mention of her stepdaughter, but she just pursed her lips and looked concerned. "All right. Go on up to the study and I'll bring you some food." She smiled at Lennon and Percy. "Nice meeting you, Lennon. You too, Percy. I've heard a lot about you two."

Lennon was taken aback by Dr. Chase's study. The room was wall-to-wall books, the attention catcher, though, were the war toys. There was a huge table with miniature tanks and soldiers fighting along a blue-painted river, with hills and fake trees. Old-fashioned biplanes hung on strings from the ceiling, tilted at crazy angles like they were in the middle of a dogfight.

Dr. Chase smiled. "Yes. The Third Battle of Ypres. I'm writing a paper, you see, on the use of Sopwith Camels to strafe enemy lines. I believe they played a much greater role than they've been given credit for." He plucked a biplane from its string and swept it across the battlefield, making airplane engine noises as he knocked down little German soldiers.