After almost thirty seconds, Michael noticed Katie's expression and spoke to fill the silence, "I was walking to my cabin and saw someone on the hill, Sir. I thought that she might have been Luke, but I got closer, saw that she was not and questioned her."
"And held me hostage with a sword," mumbled Katie under her breath. Chiron obviously had not heard the comment or else refused to acknowledge it because he looked thoughtful at the ground.
Michael, on the other hand, standing right next to Katie, heard every word.
Smiling, he continued, "Sir, she said that her father brought her here. Oh," suddenly remembering, Michael held out his left hand to Chiron, "she had a letter addressed to you."
Chiron looked up from his thinking position. He held out his hand out, palm up, and Michael gently places the letter in his grasp. He opened with a delicate slip of his fingers. He did not have to read much before he received all the information he needed. The activities director read the first two sentences before addressing the girl.
"Katie Gardner, you are indeed a half-blood. I am sorry, but if you will excuse me, I must finish this letter in my office. Michael, if you would be so kind, take Katie to the infirmary. I believe she will be most comfortable there for tonight. Your-"
"Forgive me, but why am I going to the infirmary? I'm not sick, am I?" Katie knew interrupting was probably not the smartest idea but she needed answers.
"No, no, child. I can assure you it's just for the night," the horse-man chuckled. "I will, personally, explain things to you in the morning."
"Why not now?"She demanded. Katie's frustration had sky-rocketed at this point. Why can't they give me a straight answer?, she thought, maybe I am sick. Oh, Katie. Of course, you are just sleeping silly! How can people be part-horse and part-human? They can't! You are still in the car with your father, going on the adventure…
"Far too much to explain, dear, but I swear we will talk over breakfast tomorrow morning. Can you trust us for one night?" Chiron looked Katie directly in the eye with such a sincere expression; it was hard to not trust him. Holding her anger in, she silently nodded to the man. Once Chiron had Katie's answer, he turned to directly face Michael. "Your actions this evening proved your bravery and loyalty to this camp. I thank you. Now, if it is not too much to ask, please, take Katie to a bed in the infirmary. We would not want to wake any of the campers at this hour."
With the horse-man's head turned, Katie shot Michael a 'you-are going- to-explain-everything-to-me' look.
Michael saw the look and understood. He locked Katie's eyes and gave a curt nod. To cover up the silent conversation, the blond boy answered solemnly, "right away sir." Michael picked up Katie's bag in one hand; he put his other on her back and guided her down the hall.
As they walked, Katie opened her mouth to interrogate the boy, but Michael, knowing the centaur could still hear the couple, covered her words.
"The Infirmary is just down here," he told her. "No one is in her tonight. You should be comfortable enough for one night." They had reached the end of the hall and turned into a large room.
The room wasn't really a room at all; it was more of a hall actually. The infirmary held eight empty cots, four on each side. It had a high ceiling with two skylights and windows on two walls. One looked out over a lake on one side and a forest on the other. The room was stocked with every medical instrument that Katie could imagine and a few that she did not recognize. Michael set the girls bag on a cot at the end of the hall that gave her a view out of the windows.
"Best view in the house. You should be comfortable here for one night. We will get this all sorted out tomorrow. "
"Tomorrow!" Katie said in a harsh whisper. "You will tell me what is going on right now!"
Michael stood up about to leave and avoid the conversation, "I really shouldn't. Chiron will explain everything in the morni-"
"You expect me to spend the night here knowing nothing!"
"Okay, Okay. Look. The bathroom is through that door right over there," Michael pointed to a door in the middle of the wall opposite the one with windows. "Go get ready for bed. I will run and grab you a more comfortable blanket. These hospital ones are terrible." He turned around walked to the door.
"You promise?"
He turned around, looked her straight in the eye, "promise", he said, and walked out the door.
Though she only knew the kid for 20 minutes, Katie trusted Michael. She picked up her bag and walked to the door that Michael had indicated previously. Looking inside the bag, Katie felt as if she was at home again. She grabbed out her green pajama pants and a tank top, then pulled them on her body. Katie proceeded to brush her teeth and braid her long hair back for the night.
Glancing in the mirror Katie reassured herself that everything was going to be alright. He'll come back, she thought, he has to. He promised. We will get this all straightened out.
Hastily, she crammed her worn clothed back into the bag and hurried out the door only to find that Michael was already there. He had placed another blanket at the bottom of the bed; he also brought over a chair for himself to sit on. Michael was standing over by the windows gazing thoughtfully at the grounds. Kaite det her bag down next to her assigned bed and walked over to meet the boy.
"What are you looking at?"she asked curiously.
"It looks different at night." Michael replied. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Katie's eyes squint trying to see what he was looking at in the dark. "The camp I mean. More peaceful but scarier at the same time."
Katie had a hard time seeing what Michael saw. She saw the outlines of building down the hill. There looked to be about twelve of them. Each one lit up by a small yellow light on the path to the door. She also saw some smaller buildings separated on the grounds, they also had lights but not enough for Katie to tell what the building was. There was a lake, the water reflected the moon making it easy to see. With calm waves and a dock that had a few canoes roped to it, the lake did not look out of the ordinary. She saw what he meant. Everything did seem peaceful here, but the shadows gave it a eerie look. Like one of those horror movies that Katie hated. Everything would get calm and quiet and that's when the madman with an ax jumped from behind the bushes.
"Is this real?" Katie whispered. "Or am I dreaming?"
Michael responded with a barely audible, "Yes." The pair stayed staring out the window
"But this can't be." Her voice was slowly getting louder. "Centaurs aren't real! Where in the world would a sane person give a sword to a kid. You could have killed me!"
"Yeah, I guess I could have killed you," he admitted running his hands through his a hair. Then gaining his confidence back, "Here they teach you how to use the weapons to protect yourself. You will learn. Me, I usually go for a bow and arrow but the sword was the closest thing to me."
"What kind of camp is this place!?"She nearly screamed. "I thought it was for kids with ADHD. That's what my father told me."
"It's Camp half-blood. You know the Greek gods? Aphrodite, Zeus, Apollo. "she nodded. "They're still here. They still exist in the world."
"But they're like hundreds of years old. And they're myths? What do you mean they 'still exist'?"
"They never went away. Their power moved with world power, you see. And-"
"How do you expect me to believe this? Are you crazy or something?!"Katie yelled. Her expression was filled with frustration. Thinking that Greek gods are still around in the world seemed like something from a bedtime story to her. Michael led Katie by the elbow back over to the bed she would spnd the night in.
"I know it's weird at first. It seems impossible but you have to believe me," he said.
Katie pondered the thought, "okay, so say I was to believe that's these gods are still around. What do they have to do with me?"
"You and I, we're demigods." Michael said the words as if they were the best thing in the world and would explain everything. He saw Katie's confused look and continued. "You're part Greek god Katie. One of your parents is a god of Olympus."
"No, I have two parents. You're not saying…?"
"I'm sorry Katie."