CHAPTER TEN

They Get Lost In Kansas

Piper knew her scream could be heard all the way around the world. She didn't know it, but her power was filling her friends and even the little king woodpecker with great dread. Piper could see a trees spaced out all around her, getting closer and closer. She felt the wind pull her body from the Argo II and began to scream as the summer wind whipped her away. The trees, which she later found out was an apple orchard, spread below her and just as she thought she was gonna be packed into a box of apple juice, she felt a sudden pull and jerked.

Jason had managed to catch her, mid-fall, and they were slowly descending toward the ground. When her feet hit, she pulled Jason into a bone crushing hug.

"Oxygen becoming an issue," he murmured and Piper released him, a little red in the cheeks.

"Thanks for catching me," she said. And she looked around and saw that they were in the middle of nowhere. Apple trees rose all around them and she couldn't see anything for miles. "Where do you suppose we are?"

"Dunno," muttered Jason. "But I don't like it."

"Where is the ship?" said Piper. She got her toes for better height, but still, couldn't see anything but more wheat.

"Do you think I should fly-?" began Jason.

"No!" said Piper, so terrified and forceful that Jason looked alarmed. The sky was getting darker and she didn't want to be left alone.

"Hey," said Jason, lowering his voice that sent a chill down her back, "I'm not going to leave you. I promise. I'm just gonna hover and get a lay of the land."

"Okay," said Piper.

Jason gave her a reassuring smile and he began to float upward. He rose about thirty feet into the air and did a full 360 spin. He came back down.

"I saw a sign," he said. "Cyprus, Kansas."

"We've crashed in Kansas," said Piper. "Great. Farm capital of the world. But, did you see the ship? Any sign of the others?"

"No," said Jason. His hand moved to his gladius. "I don't like this, Piper. Something isn't right in this place. And it's gonna be dark. We should find shelter. I don't want us to be out here and let's just hope everyone else is okay."

"Okay," said Piper.

They set off through the apple orchard, cautiously. Piper pulled out Katoptris for reassurance. She glanced down into the beautiful and shining blade. She saw herself, scared and little determined, but then her imagine changed. She saw a small shack and a shadow on its porch. Her eyes widened with shock.

"Look," said Jason, in a low voice.

They had reached a bend and Piper saw a small shack with a light on in the distance. She looked back down at Katoptris and only saw herself. This couldn't be a coincidence. Could it?

"Should we see whose home?" asked Jason.

"I don't like this," said Piper. "Maybe we should go back."

"Piper," said Jason, "if we do, we might get lost. We have a better chance of finding Leo and the others if we get some help. There might be a mortal who knows the land."

"Or a monster," said Piper.

"Do we really have another choice?" asked Jason.

He had a point and Piper really couldn't argue.

"Fine," she said, staring forbiddingly at the shack. "Let's see whose home."

The shack sat underneath an apple tree. Some of the yellow apples having toppled onto the roof. The shack itself was a old and made entirely of wood. Some wooden planks were missing from the porch and one of the steps. The wooden banister was missing it's right side and there was only one window with a thick curtain that stopped viewers from looking in. But Piper could see a light cast behind it and an eerie chill went down her back. She wanted to turn around, charmspeak Jason into agreeing with her, but before she could say a word, Jason knocked on the old wooden door and it opened.

"What you want?"

An old man stood in the doorway. He was tall and thin, with silver hair and matching stable. His skin was a light caramel brown and he had wide yellow eyes like a cat, and held a kerosene lantern that Piper realized was the source of the light from the inside of the shack. He wore brown cotton overalls and a stained button shirt.

"Sorry, sir," said Jason. "We're travelers and we're kind of lost-"

"Travelers, eh?" the old man repeated, scratching his chin.

"Yes," said Jason. "We've crashed-I mean-lost our ride and we were wondering if you could maybe tell us a way to get out of here and get to a main road."

"Not too many roads around here, sonny," said the old man. His eyes wandered to the left and Piper automatically followed his gaze. She gasped a little. Standing at the edge of the porch was a kid. He wore all black and had bright eyes. He was mouthing something that Piper couldn't hear. But she could read lips pretty well and she could've sworn he was saying, Danger, leave now! He said it three times and vanished into thin air.

"You okay, Piper?" Jason asked her, looking her way, concerned.

Piper looked up at the old man whose eyes became low as he raised his eyebrow.

"Why don't you two come inside?" he said. "It's better to give you a lay of the land in the morning. I don't want you to get lost in the fields. They can be very, very confusing. And you're such young heroes-I mean, young lads-come in."

Jason must've missed the slip of tongue, but Piper didn't.

"Jason," began Piper, "I don't think-"

But before she could finish, the old man wacked Jason across the head with his lantern, and grabbed Piper in a vice like grip that he should've been too weak to accomplish my the look of him. Jason fell to the porch, unconscious.

"What are you doing?" cried Piper. "Let me go!"

"Ah, daughter of Aphrodite," said the old man. "Charmspeak won't work on me. No. I have been trained to deal with your kind."

"My kind?" repeated Piper.

"All will be answered in due course," said the old man. "But right now, my patron asks a great service of me and I mustn't let her down."

"And what is that?" demanded Piper, still struggling.

"You will kill the son of Jupiter," the old man said, smiling crookedly.