little bird - Percy Jackson

chapter fourteen

"How did I get sucked into this? I wasn't even in the room."

"If I have to suffer with Hedge, then you have to suffer with Hedge." Percy tossed an arm over the girls shoulders, sending her a devious smirk, "Consider this payback."

She glared up at him, "I'll kill you."

"Get in line, Kelley."

Leo placed the Argo II down on the summit of a forested hill, the grove beside them holding a complex of buildings so white and fancy looking that it resembled a university or museum. The city of Atlanta was scattered beneath them - clusters of brown and silver skyscrapers blanched against a flat scrawl of highways and railroad tracks.

Atlanta - home of the peaches, or whatever.

"Lovely spot." Coach Hedge breathed out as he peered over the deck railing, "Good choice, Valdez."

"I just picked a tall hill." Leo shrugged, "That's a presidential library or something over there. At least that's what Festus says."

"I don't know about that." Hedge dismissed, "But do you realize what happened on this hill? Frank Zhang, you should know!"

Frank flinched, "I should?"

"A son of Ares stood here!" Hedge cried.

"I'm Roman... so Mars, actually."

"Whatever! Famous spot in the American Civil War!"

"I'm Canadian, actually."

Wren let out a laugh and Frank flushed red, but when he realized that she wasn't making fun of him and was rather laughing at how he shot down Hedge's various attempts to bring up something cool, he grinned.

"Whatever!" Hedge dismissed, "General Sherman, Union leader. He stood on this hill watching the city of Atlanta learn. Cut a path of destruction all the way from here to the sea. Burning, looting, pillaging - now there was a demigod!"

"Anyway..." Percy drawled, "Let's try not to burn down the city this time."

"Would definitely be frowned upon." Wren nodded.

Coach Hedge looked wildly disappointed, "Alright. But where to?"

"When in doubt, start in the middle."

Wren sent the Jackson boy a baffled look, "The middle? When in doubt, start at the top - always the top."

       They started in the middle.

      Finding a ride around Atlanta was much easier than any of the group had thought. They stopped in the presidential library - which was apparently called the Carter Center - and asked if any of the staff could direct them to the nearest bus stop or clue them in on where to catch a taxi. One of the librarians insisted on driving the group personally, and Coach Hedge spent the walk to Esther's big black Cadillac convincing Percy and Wren that Esther the librarian was very much a normal human.

Esther and her but black Cadillac may as well have been Atlanta's welcome tour committee - she drove downtown, barely able to see over the steering wheel, and recanted stories of every single family that existed in Atlanta ever: the founders of Coca-Cola, the athletes, the old plantation owners, and even the CNN news people.

"Uh, so, Esther, here's a hard question for you." Percy said, trying his luck with the talkative woman, "Salt water in Atlanta - what's the first thing that comes to mind?"

"Oh, sugar, that's easy. Whale sharks!"

"Whale sharks?" Wren repeated, eyebrow quirked up.

Frank looked uneasy, "You have those in Atlanta?"