Disclaimer: I do not own the Characters, they belong to Rick Riordan.
Hello to all my readers- A special shout out to Shel12 and slayer1002 for reviewing the last chapter.
This chapter is brought to you by slayer1002- she asked me to update in a PM.
Chapter 7: Task Three- Find Smith and Jones who live side by side.
Katie and Travis met up with Connor and Rachel in the main street of Greendale, the town they were currently in.
"How are you going with the hunt?" asked Travis as Will and Chris appeared from a nearby store and joined the group.
"Great, the book task was so easy," said Connor ignoring the glares he received from all present.
"How was that task easy?" asked Will.
"I don't have dyslexia," admitted Rachel apologetically.
"Does anyone have an idea how we find Smith and Jones?" asked Will.
"Oh task five, is that what you are up too?" asked Thalia as she and Annabeth joined the group.
"We asked the old couple who bought us a meal if they knew a Smith and Jones," said Chris.
"They started rambling on about some guy named Smith for twenty minutes. They way he talked about him you would swear they were best friends," said Will.
"Why didn't you get them to introduce you?" asked Katie.
"Gerald Smith grew up with him as a child and left town when he was fifteen… Fifty years ago," said Will.
"They hadn't heard from him since," informed Chris.
"They were a little confused," confessed Will.
"A little confused, they thought you were their long lost grandson," pointed out Chris as Will shrugged and the group giggled.
"How could we find out if there are any Smith and Jones in the town?" asked Thalia.
"We could knock on every door in town till we find Smith and then go next door to Jones," said Travis.
"That would take all day," exclaimed Katie.
"We could do it together," said Chris.
"How would we communicate when we find them?" asked Connor.
"Or we could just look up in the phone book for all the Smiths and Jones and see if any of them live side by side," said Annabeth.
"Well that would be quicker," agreed Rachel.
"If we could read a phone book," whined Chris, having taken a frustrating amount of time to decipher the book task.
"It was suggested we work together," said Thalia looking at Rachel. Rachel found all eyes on her; Connor and Travis were even giving her their puppy dog look.
"Fine, go get the phone book," said Rachel relenting. Travis, Connor and Chris ran off to collect a phone book and the rest sat on the benches that were placed under a nearby tree. The sons of Hermes soon came back with a phone book.
"Here you go, Greendale's phone book," said Connor handing his partner the book. Rachel flicked through the pages to find the page that contained Jones, marked it and then looked for Smith.
"Anyone seen the other team?" asked Chris wondering about how his girlfriend was going.
"We saw them at the start of the day, in the library," admitted Annabeth. All the other teams realised that none of them had seen them all day.
"…You don't think that Percy and Clarisse…" said Will.
"Killed each other…"said Thalia as they all looked at each other in concern.
"Oh come on, they wouldn't kill each other, maim or injure maybe," said Annabeth.
"I feel sorry for the kid," said Will and the others agreed. All glad that they weren't the one in paired with Percy and Clarisse.
"Damn… No Smith and Jones live next to each other," said Rachel bringing an end to the conversation.
"What that can't be," said Annabeth quickly becoming confused.
"The closest we get is Dr J Smith a block away from M Jones," replied Rachel showing on a map of the town Chris had. Everyone groaned, Will looked up and saw Clarisse, Percy coming towards them, Nico trailing a little behind.
"I guess they haven't maimed or killed each other…Yet," said Will gesturing towards the group. The trio arrived at the group, Percy giving Annabeth a kiss, or tried to.
"What's wrong?" asked Percy seeing the stress in Annabeth's eyes.
"We can't find Smith and Jones who live side by side," said Annabeth gesturing towards the phone book.
"Oh that task, we have already completed that," said Clarisse.
"What, How?" demanded Annabeth.
"Why is it so surprising that we found them?" asked Nico glaring at the group in front of them. "What's wrong Wise Girl can't stand that we are smarter than you?" asked Clarisse.
Travis asked the question everyone wanted to know. "Where do Smith and Jones live side by side?"
"Why do we have to tell you?" asked Clarisse.
"Come on, just one little clue," said Chris giving his girlfriend a pleading look.
"No… we had to do all the work," said Clarisse.
"Please, just an idea," said Annabeth pleaded with her boyfriend dumbfounded that his team had found the answer. Percy and Clarisse shared a look. Technically it was neither of them that had realised were Smith and Jones lay. They had been rendered speechless when Nico had told them he knew. It was up to Nico whether or not he gave the others a clue. The pair looked at their team mate who sighed.
"One clue: Temple," said Nico. Clarisse was happy. The clue was obscure, so the others still needed to do some work to find Smith and Jones.
"Temple, there are no temples in Greendale," exclaimed Thalia.
"That's the clue," said Nico. "Let's go and do another task," he said to Percy and Clarisse. Percy gave Annabeth a quick hug as she mumbled temple, clearly working on the puzzle. Clarisse was given a kiss by Chris, which got wolf whistles from his siblings and ended with them being punched. The trio left the group to mull over the clue and the task.
"Temple, what kind of clue is that?" asked Travis.
"A temple… is a place of worship…. where do mortals go to pray?" asked Annabeth.
"The church," replied Rachel.
"But there are two of them," said Will who was looking at the map.
"It would be that one," said Chris pointing to one of the churches on the map.
"How would you know?" asked Thalia.
"Clarisse and her team came from that direction. As a son of Hermes I am good with maps and directions, since he is the god of travellers," replied Chris not voicing that is one of the reasons Luke chose me to explore the Labyrinth.
"Do we try the Church?" asked Rachel.
"Yeah, it's the only lead we have," replied Katie, and the group headed towards the church Chris had pointed out. The church was empty when they arrived. The doors were locked with a huge padlock. Travis and Connor offered to pick it, but it was rebutted.
"No we don't want to get in trouble with the law if we are caught," said Annabeth. Before the pair could protest that they wouldn't be caught, Will pointed out the neighbour that was watching them from across the street.
"We could ask the busy body if she saw Percy and the others. See if we do have the right church," said Rachel.
"I think we have the right church," said Chris who had wandered right around the church building. He pointed towards a fence that could just be seen from where they were standing. "That leads to the cemetery."
"Cemetery, but they are not living," exclaimed Katie.
"Yes but live can also mean reside," said Annabeth.
"Come on lets find Smith and Jones who live side by side," said Connor as he lead the group towards the gate in the fence. Each person walked down the rows of headstones trying to decipher the names on the top. After ten minutes,
"Found Smith and Jones," called Chris. Everyone ran to where he was, in the middle of the cemetery to the left side of the row. Cameras were out and the photos were taken, relief on all faces. They had completed that task.
A/N: Thanks for reading, please review and tell me what you thought.
Did anyone see my Doctor Who reference?
I will now be working on my other story- and hopefully I will update that one soon.
Looking forward to September 19: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters is released in Australia that day, and I can finally see it.
