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They had arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.
Even with her coat, Astoria was freezing by the time they got to Main Street, which was about half a mile from the train tracks. As they walked, Percy told Grover and Astoria about a conversation he apparently had with Apollo the night before while they were sleeping.
Grover looked uneasy. "That's good, I guess. But we've got to get there first."
"It's still a lead," Astoria tried to keep the information positive. "Now we know how to continue."
They stopped in the middle of town. The view was so good that Astoria could see nearly everything: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.
"Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."
"There's a coffee shop!" said Grover.
"Yes," Zoe said. "Coffee is good."
"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."
Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about you two go get us some food. Percy, Bianca, Astoria and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."
They agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable being without Zoe, but after Astoria gave her a reassuring smile she seemed a bit more relaxed. Inside the store, they found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out of town unless having a car of your own.
"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk suggested doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars." The clerk looked so lonely, Percy bought a rubber rat. Then they headed back outside and stood on the porch.
"Wonderful," Thalia grumped. "I'm going to walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion."
"But the clerk said-" Percy stopped her.
"I know," she told me. "I'm checking anyway." Astoria let out a sigh at Thalia's stubbornness, it was one thing to refuse to listen to Percy but going against the clerk was useless.
The rest of them stood together awkwardly. Normally Astoria would have no problem talking to Percy or Bianca one on one, she could find common ground. The three of them together was a different conversation especially now that Bianca was a Hunter, a topic Astoria tried not to concern herself with until the quest was over.
