THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES [J. GRACE]

TWENTY

on the conveyor belt, the bed of the unfinished pickup truck was being used as a fire pit. the emergency flare had ignited a mixture of tires, and wood, which, from the smell of it, had been doused in kerosene. a big metal pole was suspended over the flames – a spit, chandler realized, which meant that it was a cooking fire.

but most terrifying of all were the cooks. monocle motors: that single red eye logo. why hadn't chandler realized earlier? she was on this quest because she was experienced, but right now, she wasn't helping anyone. why was she here in the first place? three cyclops gathered around the fire. two were standing, stoking the flames. the largest one crouched with his back to chandler, and leo. the two facing him were each ten feet tall, with hairy muscular bodies, and skin that glowed red in the firelight. one of the monsters wore a chain mail loincloth that looked really uncomfortable. the other wore a ragged fuzzy toga made of fiberglass insulation, which also would not have made chandler's top ten wardrobe ideas. other than that, the two monsters could've been twins. each had a brutish face with a single eye in the center of his forehead.

leo's legs started shaking. she'd expect that, because her hands were shaking. she'd been doing stuff like that, coming to camp every summer since she was eight, and quests since she was like, nine, and she was scared. she knew leo must have been terrified. of course he would be, he'd seen some weird things so far – storm spirit,s and winged gods, and a metal dragon that liked tabasco sauce. but this was different. these were actual, flesh-and-blood, ten-foot-tall living monsters who wanted to eat them, and their friends for dinner.

chandler was so scared, she could hardly think. if only she had festus. she could use a fire-breathing sixty-foot-long tank about now. but all she had was a giant battle ax, which wasn't too bad, and a backpack. the only thing leo has was his three-pound hammer, which was tiny even compared to chandler's axe, and a tool belt. what could they do with that? this is what the sleeping earth lady had been talking about. she wanted leo, and chandler to walk away and leave their friends to die. that decided it. no way was she going to let that earth lady make her feel powerless – never again. leo slipped off his backpack, and quietly started to unzip it.

the cyclops in the chain mail loincloth walked over to piper, who squirmed and tried to head-butt him in the eye. "can i take her gag off now? i like it when they scream." the question was directed at the third cyclops, apparently the leader. the crouching figure grunted, and loincloth ripped the gag off piper's mouth. she didn't scream. she took a shaky breath like she was trying to keep herself calm.

meanwhile, leo found what he wanted in the pack: a stack of tiny remote control units chandler picked up in bunker nine. she had told him she had a feeling they'd need them, and stuffed them in leo's bag for safe keeping. along with a pineapple soda that she'd definitely drink as soon as they were back on festus. leo, and chandler quietly made a plan. the robotic crane's maintenance panel was easy to find. leo slipped a screwdriver from his tool belt and went to work, but went slowly.

the leader cyclops was only twenty feet in front of them. the monsters obviously had excellent senses. pulling off their plan without making noise seemed impossible, but they didn't have much choice. the cyclops in the toga poked at the fire, which was now blazing away and billowing noxious black smoke toward the ceiling. his buddy, loincloth, glowered at piper, waiting for her to do something entertaining. "scream, girl! i like funny screaming!"

when piper finally spoke, her tone was calm and reasonable, like she was correcting a naughty puppy. "oh, mr. cyclops, you don't want to kill us. it would be much better if you let us go."

loincloth scratched his ugly head. he turned to his friend in the fiberglass toga. "she's kind of pretty, torque. maybe i should let her go."

torque, the dude in the toga, growled. "i saw her first, sump. i'll let her go!" sump and torque started to argue, but the third cyclops rose and shouted, "fools!"