GODS AND MONSTERS , pjo

06 , percy blows up the bathrooms

CHAPTER SIX:
PERCY BLOWS UP THE BATHROOMS

We had a nice tour, I think. Percy seemed to be avoiding walking behind Chiron, which ultimately ended up causing him to run into me a few times. Which wasn't good for my head.

We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn Percy was carrying.

Another said, "That's him."

Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting one of us to do a flip or something.

I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized. four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the when my body suddenly slammed into Percy's.

I let out a loud groan as the boy practically ignored me and turned to Chiron.

"What's up there?" Percy asked Chiron pointing towards the farmhouse. I followed his finger to what I believe was the attic.

He looked where Percy was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."

"Somebody lives there?"

"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."

I got the feeling he was being truthful. But Percy didn't seem to completely believe it.

"Come along" Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."

We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.

Chiron told us the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus.

"It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."

He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.

I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music.

"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" Percy asked Chiron. "I mean . . . he was a good protector. Really."

Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horse's back like a saddle.

"Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."

      "But he did that!"

      "I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York. Then there's the unfortunate . . . ah . . . fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."