Chapter 5

Immediately, I leapt out of the van, sprinted across the grounds and ran right into Mr D!

"What do you want, Saunders? I am very busy today, lots of menial tasks which could easily be shoved onto some first year. Say, you're only a first year, aren't you? How would you like to help me out with some little tasks?" Sneered Mr D.

"Sorry, sir - I need to speak with Chiron, it's kind of urgent." I protested, knowing that if Mr D wanted to give anyone – particularly a first-year – a job, you were going to do a job.

"Oh no, sorry, you can't just run into the big house, alike you own the place! However, I would be sure to tell Chiron right away that you need to speak with him if you were to help me out…" urged Mr D.

"Okay, sir, what do I need to do?" replied Tom, backing down but knowing, all too well, that Mr D wouldn't actually tell Chiron.

"Right, here is the list," he said, producing a small piece of paper about the size of a finger.

"Thanks, sir, I'll get right on it." I said, wondering how on earth I was going to read the writing, it was so small!

"Right, bye then." He said, darting back into the big house before I could protest. It took about 5 seconds to realise why. Suddenly, the list started to grow, I mean really, grow! In under a minute, the piece of paper, originally the size of a finger grew to about three meters long and about twenty centimetres wide. Scrawled on it were about a hundred different tasks ranging from scrubbing down the canoes to pruning the strawberry fields.

Three hours later, I finished scrubbing down the last canoe and finally crawled back up to the big house to talk to Chiron.

"Hey, Mr D, sir, I've just finished your jobs, can I go talk to Chiron now?" I asked once I saw Mr D again.

"Oh okay, whatever. But I should really give you more jobs before I let you in." replied Mr D, finally giving in.

Five minutes later I was sitting opposite Chiron, who was in his wheelchair to avoid straining my neck.

"I had a dream. In my dream, we arrived at camp, and Robyn dashed out and ran towards a boy. I couldn't see who it was, but in my dream, three weeks later he was pulled into a bush by a pair of unknown hands, and disappeared by the time Robyn pulled the branches back!"

"And how on earth would that happen? No one in camp wants to harm Cam, let alone kidnap him! Just relax and enjoy settling back into life here. I hear you had quite a battle getting Robyn back here, what happened, exactly," Replied Chiron, a look of doubt crawling across his face.

"Well, Robyn was called out by the new head, Miss Blake. Turns out Miss Blake was a Minotaur. I only just managed to get my letter opener out in time. Then we were chased back to the airport by a three story high Chimera. Then, finally, we were ambushed by a centaur on the plane home!"

"And you both still survived! Well, that is something. Who did you say you thought her immortal parent was, again?"

"Aphrodite."

"Yes, well… that would explain her attraction to a son of Hephaestus."

"Really, why?"

"Well, Aphrodite and Hephaestus are married, so it would make sense for their children to like each other, too," Explained Chiron, "Now, you go and get some rest, you've both had a rough time, and you need some time to rest."

As I walked out of the big house, I reflected on what Chiron had said, and the doubt on his face when I mentioned his dream. As I walked back to my cabin, I looked back at the attic. The light was on, and I could see movement: Chiron was getting a prophecy!