Page 22 of The Wild Zone

At my first opportunity, I was going to buy that satyr something less abrasive to get everyone’s attention—like a triangle or kazoo.

All the campers fell silent. We turned toward the head table as a large man got to his feet. He wore a standard-issue orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, khaki shorts, and flip-flops, and with his tan skin, blond hair, and muscular build, he reminded me of a Venice Beach weightlifter.

Except he was almost seven feet tall. That was my first clue he might not be human. My second clue? Covering his arms and legs were blue and white circles that reminded me of the glass pendants I’d seen last night in the woods. At first I thought they were tattoos. Then several of them blinked. I realized they were actual eyes—dozens of them covering every visible part of the giant’s body. Did he have eyes even where you couldn’t see? Like on the bottoms of his feet? Or…You know what? Never mind. Forget I asked.

The satyr handed the giant a clipboard.

They sure loved clipboards at this camp.

As the giant looked over his notes, I scanned the other satyrs at the head table. Silas wasn’t among them, which bummed me out. I hadn’t seen him since he’d handed me and Grant off to Clarisse the night before. I really wanted to see his friendly face. I’d bet anything he’d help me find Grant.

“Well, then!” The giant looked up from his clipboard and smiled. “Good morning, everyone!”

He spread his arms in a gesture of welcome. Unfortunately, his satyr assistant wasn’t paying attention. He had his head down and was nervously chewing on a pencil, so when the giant threw his arms back, he accidentally walloped the satyr. I was surprised that, even with all those eyes, the giant hadn’t seen him.

“Mehhh!” the satyr bleated. He stumbled around, the clipboard now impaled on his right horn, so he looked like he was wearing a graduation hat.

At Camp Half-Blood, we got breakfast and a show.

The giant ignored the clipboard mishap.

“First, I’d like to welcome our five newcomers to Camp Half-Blood!” he announced. He clapped, and some of the campers halfheartedly joined in.

At the end of our table, Clarisse was frowning. “I’ve never heard Argus talk this much,” she muttered.

“I didn’t even know he could talk,” said Elam.

Clarisse glared at him. “Maybe he only opens his mouth when he absolutely has to. You could learn from that.”

I smiled, trying to ignore the twisting in my gut. The giant had welcomed five of us. Only four of us were here.

A few Hermes kids pounded their fists on the table and took up a chant: “KP! KP!”

Great. Word of our curfew violation must have gotten around. I just hoped nobody knew the details. If entering the Wild Zone really was a go-home no-no, my morning activity might be packing my bags.

“All right, all right,” the giant told the chanters. “Enough of that. I seem to remember some of you getting KP when you were newbies.”

The Hermes campers snickered and elbowed one another.

The giant caught my gaze and smiled. For all I knew, he was simultaneously catching the gaze of Harper, Benny, and Zuri, since he had plenty of eyes to spare.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t welcome you last night,” he said. “But things have been”—blue eyes twitched all over his body—“a little hectic. I’m Argus, Camp Half-Blood’s head of security, and for the next few months, your temporary camp director. Normally, Chiron and Dionysus would be here to greet you….” He paused. “Well, Chiron would greet you, anyway.”

A girl at our table snorted. “And Mr. D would try to trick the newbies into bringing him wine.”

Argus frowned at her, and the girl shut up. Apparently, the giant had good hearing as well as extra eyes.

“As I was saying,” he continued, “due to…recent events, Chiron and Dionysus are up on Mount Olympus doing ‘professional development training.’ ” For some reason, he framed the words in air quotes. “And now, for today’s activities…” Argus retrieved the clipboard from the satyr’s horn and began to read aloud.

“ ‘Recent events,’ ” Elam muttered. “Prissy Jackson’s the one who needs training.”

That boy’s name seemed to come up a lot. Though I was pretty sure it was Percy.

Against my better judgment, I whispered to Elam, “What’s he so famous for, anyway?”

“He went on a quest to find Zeus’s missing master bolt.” Elam curled his lip. “And made giant messes across the country trying to get it back.”

My eyes went wide. “Who took Zeus’s lightning bolt? Wouldn’t that cause a huge war among the gods?”