Chapter 8
My thoughts kept wandering back to the incident on the bus. Even though there were reasons for the Kindly Ones to call Percy an "it", I don't think they were talking about him when they said, "Where is it?"
"You know, maybe I should tell you… something funny back on the bus…" I started to tell Percy.
Before I could tell Percy what I was thinking about, there was a shrill toot-toot-toot made by Grover.
"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods."
Grover blew some notes and I had to stop myself from laughing. Was he playing Hilary Duff? I didn't know how a song by Hilary Duff would help. I was right.
Grover's "find path song" didn't really work. We wandered around the woods for a mile. I was pretty sure that Percy was having the most trouble. He kept walking into trees and cursing. Though I couldn't see much in the dark, I was better at navigating than Percy,
Suddenly, I smelled food. Junk food. I hadn't eaten junk food since… forever. A longing came over me. I walked towards the smell.
We kept on walking until we came upon a building with a neon sign above a gate. I had no idea what it said. Darn dyslexia.
"What the heck does that say?" Percy asked me.
"I don't know," I admitted, frustrated.
"Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium," Grover said.
Percy crossed the street over to the building, following the delicious smell of food.
"Hey…" Grover warned.
"The lights are on inside. Maybe it's open," I said hopefully.
"Snack bar," Percy said wistfully.
"Snack bar," I agreed. I was in the mood for a cheeseburger.
"Are you two crazy?" Grover cried. "This place is weird!"
We ignored him, our minds too focused on the food.
The front lot had statues of animals, children, and even satyrs.
"Bla-ha-ha!" Grover said. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"
We stopped at the warehouse door.
"Don't knock!" Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."
"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," I scoffed. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"
"Meat! I'm a vegetarian," Grover said.
"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," Percy said with a "ha!" face.
Um… Percy… that's not meat… wow…
"Those are vegetables," Grover said.
Since when was a tin can a vegetable?
"Come on. Let's leave. These statues are… looking at me," Grover whimpered.
Suddenly, the door opened and standing in the door was a tall woman with a black gown and a veil on her head. It was too late to leave. We couldn't just suddenly go, "Hi! Just… dropping by to see if your door works… Well, bye!"
"Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are you parents?" The woman asked.
I panicked. "They're… um…"
"We're orphans," Percy stepped in.
"Orphans? But, my dears! Surely not!" The woman said.
"We got separated from our caravan. Our circus caravan," Percy said. Seriously? That sounds totally… dumb. Who would believe we came from a circus caravan? "The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?" I snorted. Percy was so blunt.
"Oh, my dears. You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."
We thanked her and went inside. I still couldn't believe that the woman bought the story.
"Circus caravan?" I muttered to Percy.
"Always have a strategy, right?" Percy replied.
"Your head is full of kelp."
Seaweed Brain.
The warehouse had a ton of more statues, but I didn't care. I wanted food! We made our way to the dining area. There was a food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. My eyes grew wide.
"Please, sit down." Aunty Em said.
"Awesome," Percy said, and I agreed.
"Um, we don't have any money, ma'am," Grover said.
"No, no children," Aunty Em said. "No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."
I remembered my manners and said, "Thank you, Ma'am." Was it my imagination, or did Aunty Em stiffen?
"Quite all right, Annabeth," Aunty Em said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child." I wondered how she knew my name, but soon forgot since I really wanted the junk food.
All right, all right, call me an idiot for not noticing the suspicious things going on down there and paying more attention to food. But would you have been focused on that if you hadn't eaten junk food in forever and you smelled and saw tons of junk food that you could eat for free, and it was probably the only chance you'd get to eat junk food? I don't think so.
We sat down and Aunty Em brought us trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and French fries. My mouth watered. I dug in.
I was slurping down my shake when Grover asked, "What's that hissing noise?"
I listened hard. I didn't hear anything and shook my head.
"Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."
"I take vitamins. For my ears," Grover said.
Was he serious or did he really take vitamins? No… I don't think he did. After all, satyrs have naturally good hearing.
"That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax."
"So, you sell gnomes," Percy said, making small talk.
"Oh yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."
"A lot of business on this road?" Percy asked.
"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built… most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every costumer I get," Aunty Em said.
Percy noticed a stature of a little girl holding an Easter basket. She looked startled and terrified. Why would Aunty Em make a statue of a terrified little girl? She seriously is old enough to know it won't sell well.
"Ah, you notice some of my creations do not turn out as well," Aunty Em said. "They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."
"You make these statues yourself?" Percy asked.
"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company."
I stopped eating. "Two sisters?" I repeated. Did I hear right?
"It's a terrible story. Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a… a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but they eventually passed on. They faded away. I alone has survived, but at a price. Such a price," Aunty Em said.
I got scared. I had a hunch on who Aunty Em was, and she wasn't a human. Two sisters… a boyfriend… a bad woman… hey, that woman was NOT bad… statues… I now knew why Grover was so scared. That woman was… Em… M… Med- Oh, I really didn't want it to be true!
"Percy?" I said, shaking him to get his attention. "Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting," I said, sounding tense.
"Such beautiful gray eyes," "Aunty Em" told me. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those."
That confirmed my suspicion. So she had seen gray eyes like mine. Like my mother's. I stood up and said, "We really should go."
"Yes! The ringmaster is waiting! Right!" Grover said, eagerly jumping up.
"Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"
"A pose?" I asked warily.
"A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children."
I didn't know what she was up to with the photograph talk, but I knew she really wasn't going to take a picture.
"I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on Percy-" I said.
"Sure we can. It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?" Percy asked.
What was wrong with Percy? I glared at him. Why isn't he listening to Grover and me? If we ever got back to camp, Percy should work on being able to listen and follow the advice of others.
"Yes, Annabeth. No harm," Aunty Em said.
Seeing how dense Percy was, I knew we weren't going to get anywhere before having to "take a picture". I didn't like it, but I allowed Aunty Em to lead us back out the front door into the garden of statues. Maybe I could make a run for it. But I couldn't leave Percy and Grover behind.
Aunty Em made us sit on a bench next to a stone satyr. The one that Grover insisted looked like his uncle. "Now, I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and two young gentlemen on either side."
"Not much light for a photo," Percy observed.
"Oh, enough. Enough for us to see each other, yes?"
Not really.
"Where's your camera?" Grover asked. Exactly what I was thinking.
Aunty Em didn't answer. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me pleas, everyone? A large smile?"
No.
Grover glanced at the statue satyr. "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand."
I grew nervous. If Grover kept insisting that the statue was his uncle, then it probably was.
"Grover, look this way, dear," Aunty Em said. Still she had no camera.
"Percy-" I said, trying to warn him.
"I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said, "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil…"
"Percy, something's wrong," I insisted. Obviously. "Aunty Em" wouldn't wait all that time to take off her veil when she could have when she was cooking for us. She was up to something. And I knew what it was. She was taking off her veil to reveal…
"Wrong? Not at all dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?" She was undoing her wrap. Oh Styx! She was taking off her veil to reveal… the snakes on her head.
"That is Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped. I knew it.
"Look away from her!" I screamed. I put on my invisibility cap and pushed Grover and Percy off the bench, making them look away from the horrors of Aunty "M", also known as Medusa.
