Short chapter, read and review please. -- Mandy

The following day, Perseus arrived home on crutches. He'd needed stitches and a tetanus shot, but he would have the threads removed in a week or two.

Andromeda ran to her brother and threw her arms around him, though she was careful not to knock him off his supporting sticks.

"How were things while I was gone?" he asked her as they stood in a sibling hug on the front lawn.

"They were quiet, kind of boring," she lied, deciding against telling Perseus about her encounters with Ezekiel. "I missed you, Percy. Do you remember what happened?"

"Not really…" He frowned thoughtfully. "I only knew there were… four men, and they all came at me at once. Then… blank."

"Well, you're okay now. Too bad you missed the art show though… I know you would've won."

"Actually there's another one next month in Madison. They're offering a grand prize of three hundred dollars, plus the offers of whoever wants to buy it."

"When is it?"

"In a month, in the middle of July. And in a week I can get back to work down at the shoe store so we'll have some good spending money."

"Is Uncle Geoff still sending us mortgage money?" asked Andromeda. Because jobs in Bluestone were fairly scarce, and Perseus worked merely as an employee at Norma Beth's shoe store, their wealthy uncle in New York sent them money to pay off the house and utilities, along with Perseus's salary to pay for groceries. Andromeda had applied for a job at the smoothie parlor but they hadn't called back, and she couldn't work at the library because it barely got any customers.

"Yeah, he's sending us some more at the end of June. But I was thinking of making this art show trip a bit of a summer getaway? I mean, how often do you get to go to the state capitol? Ah, it'll be a lot of fun! You and me and art and shopping and staying in a hotel and eating out and watching movies until four A.M."

"Percy, we always watch movies 'til four A.M."

"Then we'll watch more movies. On pay-per-view, even. It'll be so much fun."

In all honesty, Andromeda would love a trip into Madison with her brother. They had a close bond already, and this would bring them closer. Also, it would allow her to get away from Gabriel and his paranoia for a few days.

Later, she went to the library to renew her checked-out book. Due to her previous investigation of the trailer-boy, she'd missed out on her daily reading. For three hours that afternoon, she sat in her room on her comfortable bed with City of Bones resting on her knees while she read its vast amount of interesting pages.

Once evening came around, she made a dinner of macaroni and cheese with a side of bag-frozen French fries for her and Perseus. Then, after his nightly hour of television, she told him to sleep on the couch instead of fighting the stairs to his room. He took his pain pills, settled down on the sofa, and soon he was deep in slumber.

Making sure he was asleep, she crept to the door and quietly exited her house.

At Ezekiel's trailer that night, he listened as she spoke of the people she knew. She also mentioned the trip to Madison when Perseus's leg healed up. She was bothered slightly by the untidiness of the living space but she never mentioned it to him.

An hour passed before she found herself sleepy and she said goodbye. Her knife was within reach, should she need it, but she made it home safe.

As quiet as she'd been when she had left, she crept inside, silently shutting and locking the door, then made her way upstairs to her room, where she crawled into bed and fell asleep instantly.

Her next few days progressed in very similar ways. On only one of those days did she see Gabriel, and only so she could turn down another date request from Carson. Gabriel's elusiveness bothered her. If he wants to feel sorry for himself, he should grow up, she thought. And if he wants to hide his worrying, he should quit staring at me all the time.

And on her way to the library, a route which passed his house, she noticed him watching her while he was mowing his lawn. He was so busy staring at her that he accidentally drove the mower up onto the base of the maple tree in his front yard. The loud noise it made jerked him back from his daze and he tugged the thing onto the grass.

As he continued mowing, she rolled her eyes and resumed her walk. What a moron.

When she passed the shoe store, Brittney and Amanda swaggered out, both carrying two bags of new shoes, and Andromeda sensed something odd. The girls were whispering amongst each other, their make-up-soaked eyes on her.

Ignoring it, she kept walking. The book was nestled safely under her arm and she was eager to read the sequel.

"Hey!"

She turned to see Brittney, short and stout with chocolate hair swirled up in a huge messy bun and pale green eyes decorated with slanted Asian-style eyeliner, and Amanda, even shorter and red-haired with a face caked in foundation. They had expressions of awe, as if they were staring into a random bucket of ranch dressing rather than a pretty blond girl.

"Oh, hi," Andromeda said, barely decimally interested.

"Is it… true?" babbled Amanda.

"Is… what true?"

Brittney lifted the bags higher on her shoulders. "We heard you've met the wolf-boy in the old trailer."

Andromeda scowled, "Where'd you hear that from?"

"We just did. Is it true?"

"There's no 'wolf-boy'." She thought briefly about Ezekiel living alone in privacy long before he'd met her. It probably should stay that way. "There's no one living in that trailer. It was abandoned years ago. There's nothing but mice and bugs in there now."

Amanda made a face of disgust. "Ewww!"

"Exactly." Andromeda turned to resume her stroll home. Behind her, though, she heard Brittney mutter,

"Wow, maybe Carson was wrong."

Andromeda stopped, mid-step, and whirled around. "Stop the presses; it was Carson who told you that?"

Brittney's orange nose scrunched up. "Um, yeahhh… why?"

Without answering, Andromeda was on her way to the smoothie parlor.