THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH
Ara sucked in a sharp breath, she remembered this. She glanced at Hermes, despite what most gods and people would assume, he was smart. He would realize what string the Fates had cut.
Meanwhile the rest of the demigods -minus Percy- were staring at Percy, eyes wide. Annabeth breath had become labored as she stared at him.
No. No. No. NO. NO. NO! NO! I can't lose him, he can't die! He promised he wouldn't leave me, he can't break that promise! He- Her panicked thoughts were cut short as Percy wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm still here Wise Girl, I'm not leaving. You can't get rid of me." He murmured into her hair. Annabeth nodded, clinging to her Seaweed Brain.
I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This
twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire
campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely
and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got
on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.
Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up,
but they would stare at me like I was psycho.
"You are a psycho." Ara stated firmly.
It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.
Almost.
"Grover!" Thalia groaned. Grover stared at her affronted, "I'll have you know I have gotten better at lying!" Thalia raised her eyebrows "Tell me a lie right now." Grover glanced around searching for help. "I'd rather not." Grover mumbled. "Exactly." Thalia said smugly.
But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim
she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.
Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.
"No, really?" Draco drawled sarcastically.
I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons
and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.
The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the
windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley
touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social
studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.
"Drama queens." Hestia muttered under her breath.
I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.
Annabeth raised her eyebrows as Percy looked down sheepishly.
I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.
Ara blinked. "I thought they only did that in kindergarten."
Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to
study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it
sounded good.
Hermes grinned proudly.
The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back
next year to Yancy Academy.
Fine, I told myself. Just fine.
I was homesick.
"Who wouldn't be? Mama Jackson is amazing." Nico exclaimed.
(Don't know if I mentioned this but Nico lives with Ara. Because you know, sibling goals)
I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public
school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.
And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the
Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if
he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.
I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.
As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had
told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.
Artemis smiled slightly, it wasn't often a mortal appreciated nature, much less a male mortal.
The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology
across my dorm room.
Ara screamed, causing many wizards to look at her, the gods and demigods who were used to her dramatics sighed or chuckled.
"Justice for the book!" Ara yelled firmly, before rounding on Percy "Percy, respect your books! They have feelings too!"
Bye now Percy was on the floor laughing. Ara was good at making people feel happy or relaxed. Percy supposed she got it from Uncle James.
Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing
one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the
difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin
verbs? Forget it.
The demigods winced in sympathy.
I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.
I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes.I will accept only the best
from you, Percy Jackson.
I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.
I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some
pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to
leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.
Sally smiled. Her boy was truly a gift.
(I honestly forgot she was there)
I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door
was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.
I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a
question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy, sir."
I froze.
I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking
about you to an adult.
I inched closer.
Hermes, the Stoll's and Ara beamed proudly.
"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for
sure, and they know too—"
"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature
more."
"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline—"
The Slytherins and Ravenclaws with actual brains blinked.
The lightning thief... A deadline... They were connected.
"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."
"Sir, he saw her..."
"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince
him of that."
"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that
would mean."
"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now
let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"
The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.
Mr. Brunner went silent.
Hermes groaned, "Rule number 16: Don't make any noise unless needed."
Percy frowned "I know that... now."
My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.
A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller
than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.
I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.
A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an
animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.
A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.
Dumbledore popped a lemon drop into his mouth, frowning slightly. Who or what where these people? How did they know his pawn?
Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right
since the winter solstice."
"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."
"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."
Grover grimaced, "I hated those exams!" Chiron looked away, hopefully Grover never found out that the tests were never actually graded.
"Don't remind me."
The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.
I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.
Hermes nodded "That's right!" He turned to Percy "Have you ever thought about pranking?"
Percy smirked "Who do you think dyed the Aphrodite cabin blue?"
Hermes practically squealed.
Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.
Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.
"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"
I didn't answer.
"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"
"Just... tired."
"Same" Nico yawned.
McGonagall nodded, "How about after this chapter we head to bed?"
Everyone nodded.
I turned so he couldn't read my expression and started getting ready for bed.
I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.
But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I
was in some kind of danger.
"You were." Annabeth said, "We just didn't realize how much."
The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek
and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.
For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't
seem to be the problem.
"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."
His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other
kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions
with her lips.
Percy cringed, "I still can't believe she liked me."
I mumbled, "Okay, sir."
"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the
right place for you. It was only a matter of time."
My eyes stung.
Chiron sighed, "I apologize Percy, I didn't realize how much my words affected you."
Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he
believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.
"Right," I said, trembling.
"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy.
That's nothing to be—"
"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.
"Percy—"
But I was already gone.
Seeing Chiron open his mouth to apologize once more Percy glared, "Chiron, it's okay."
On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.
The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a
hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile
delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or
ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.
The gods opened their mouths angrily but Ara cut them off "Wow it's almost like he didn't know you existed!"
They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.
What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine
subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.
"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."
They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.
Ara growled.
The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd
booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again,
walking out of the school together.
Until I froze.
Annabeth groaned "Not another monster!" Percy smiled "Nope! Something way better!" He said glancing at Ara who waved.
"Stella!" I screamed launching myself towards her.
Ara Potter-Black looked up from the book she was reading and grinned.
Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly. I thought she was in Brittan with her relatives?! How is she here?
"Bestie!" She screamed back abandoning her luggage to sprint towards me with open arms, we met half way, I wrapped my arms around her and spun her around.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were at your house?"
Ara shrugged, "Papa and Dad sent me a letter to go home with you, so at my parents wish I'm her to pick you up!" I beamed. I hadn't seen Ara for a LONG time.
"I saw you over Christmas break." Ara deadpanned. Percy shrugged, "Which is still a long time."
Apparently, she had gotten accepted into a fancy boarding school in Scotland. I remember when she found out about it. She broke into Yancy to tell me that she was leaving for the boarding school. I was sad that my best friend was leaving (even if it was just temporarily) but I was happy for her. She had seemed excited, rambling on about the cool stories her Dad and Papa had told her about the school. But looking at her now she seemed worn.
Weaselbee scoffed "How could anyone be worn from Hogwarts?" Ara glared at him Surely he remembered all the shit they went through in first year?
Like she had seen horrible things, things that no child should see. I frowned, my best friend deserves the best, if this school can't give that to her well... they were in for a treat. I could be cruel when I wanted to.
"Yes. Yes, you can." Nico nodded rapidly remembering the times Percy had killed monsters without remorse or pity.
Meanwhile the wixen scoffed inwardly, A boy? Take on wizards? Ha!
"What's wrong?" Ara questioned, noticing my darkening look. I scowled "I could ask the same to you, you look like something horrible happened." Ara glanced around at all the students flooding out of the school, "I'll tell you later, in private." I nodded, "But first," She continued, "I want you to tell me what happened with you, you look like your going insane." I sighed knowing I wouldn't be able to hide anything from her.
"Dam right you wouldn't!" Ara cheered. Percy, Grover and Thalia shared mischevios looks. "I want a dam nap." Thalia smirked. Percy and Grover were about to join in on the 'dam' joke, but with one sharp glare from Annabeth they fell silent.
(Alright people this is not an Annabeth bashing book. Annabeth will grow as a character with the help of Percy and Ara. She will be a jerk at first, she will not be liked by Ara at first either, because I don't think that she should have been forgiven that easily for almost getting Percy murdered in capture the flag)
So I told her everything, from Mrs. Dodds to Grover talking about me to Mr. Brunner. When I finished speaking Ara had a thought full look on her face.
"I might know something about this, but I can't think why, when I get to my house I'll find out what this means. Maybe you should question Grover?" I shrugged, "I've been trying to question Grover, he doesn't answer." Ara grinned wolfishly. "That's because you didn't have me with you. Look, he's coming this way now. Hey Grover!" She called out waving.
Grover smiled, he had only met Ara once but they formed a bond, (they mainly discussed nature)
"Hey Ara!" He smiled pulling her into a hug. Pulling away Ara smiled, "C'mon, if we wait any longer the bus will leave."
Ara grinned pulling Percy and Grover close, "Best friend goals!" They cheered (Ara and Percy doing a war dance)
During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other
passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he
expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased.
But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.
Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.
I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"
Ara glared at me "That wasn't the plan." she muttered.
Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"
I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.
Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"
"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"
He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math
teachers ..."
"Grover—" Ara tried.
"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no
such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."
"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." Ara said bluntly.
Hermes snickered discreetly high fiving her.
His ears turned pink.
From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me
this summer.
The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something
like:
Grover Underwood
Keeper
Half-Blood Hill
Long Island, New York
(800)009-0009
Ara read over my shoulder, "Half-blood?" She whispered sounding confused.
"What's Half—"
"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."
My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the
others at Yancy.
"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."
He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me."
"Why would I need you?"
It came out harsher than I meant it to.
Ara swatted my arm. Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect
you."
I stared at him.
All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get
beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.
"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"
"We would all like to know this!" Theodore cried waving his arms around. Ara snickered at her friends antics.
There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole
bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of
the highway.
After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off.
Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.
We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our
side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across
four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.
The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and
apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice .There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting
in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.
I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted
one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of
electric-blue yarn.
"No." Hermes whispered, he looked at Ara panicked. He couldn't lose one of the few humans that gave him true happiness. He had already lost a majority of his children, he couldn't lose his soulmate too!
All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white
bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.
The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.
Ara narrowed her eyes at the woman before muttering something under her breath, all I could make out from it was: "Fates... Papa said... didn't think they were real."
I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face.
His nose was twitching.
"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"
"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"
"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"
"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."
Ara frowned, "Grover, are they who I think they are?" She whispered as thought the ladies could hear her from across the road. Grover didn't answer.
The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I
heard Grover catch his breath.
Annabeth started breathing rapidly, but Hermes had a look of painful realization. Luke.
"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."
"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."
"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.
Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could
hear that snip across four lanes of traffic.
Annabeth let out a small scream.
Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me
wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.
Grover, Ara and I continued to watch as the pulled out two more baskets of yarn, one was colored a greyish green – "The color of your eyes..." Hermes whispered, horrified, while turning to looking at Ara- and the other was hazel with hints of gold. – "And that's your eye color." Apollo whispered, dramatically. He already knew what was happening- The lady who had snipped the electric blue yarn, grabbed the ends of the other two; intertwining the ends. The lady looked directly at Ara who's eyes were wide with realization.
Hermes exhaled, slumping into Ara's waiting arms. So, it wasn't her death. It was our bond.
At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment.
The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.
The passengers cheered.
"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"
Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.
Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.
"Grover?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you not telling me?"
Dumbledore leaned in. Answers perhaps?
He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"
"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"
His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much,
much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."
"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."
He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't.
It was something else, something almost older.
He said, "You saw her snip the cord."
"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.
Annabeth closed her eyes tightly at the reminder.
"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like
the last time."
"What last time?"
"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."
"Grover," Ara said, looking scared. "What are you talking about?"
"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me, both of you."
This seemed like a strange request to me, but we promised he could.
"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.
No answer.
"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"
He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.
"I would like Lantanas." Ara said, playing with Hermes' hair. "For my coffin." She clarified.
The demigods who were used to her dark humor laughed it off, while the wixen looked alarmed.
"Next chapter!" Percy said.