girl alone in the woods — that's typically a good time to draw your sword and

attack. Plus, the encounter with Ms.

 

Castellan had rattled me pretty bad.

 

But Nico bowed to the little girl. "Hello again, Lady."

 

She studied me with eyes as red as the firelight. I decided it was safest to

bow.

 

"Sit, Percy Jackson," she said. "Would you like some dinner?

 

After staring at moldy peanut butter sandwiches and burned cookies, I didn't

have much of an appetite, but the girl waved her hand and a picnic appeared at

the edge of the fire. There were plates of roast beef, baked potatoes, buttered

carrots, fresh bread, and a whole bunch of other foods I hadn't had in a long

time. My stomach started to rumble. It was the kind of home-cooked meal people

are supposed to have but never do. The girl made a five-foot-long dog biscuit

appear for Mrs. O'Leary, who happily began tearing it to shreds. 1 sat next to

Nico. We picked up our food, and 1 was about to dig in when I thought better of

it.

 

I scraped part of my meal into the flames, the way we do at camp. "For the

gods," I said.