☾ The Child of Artemis ☾

18. Walking Takes Way Too Long

          We hunted for dinner, ate it, and slept through the night ever since Thalia promised she'd help me. We woke up just as early as yesterday. "I am ready for another day of walking nonstop for miles," one Hunter complained.

          "Walking takes way too long," another whined.

          "My dad, Poseidon, had an aquarium. E - I -E - I - O," Faith sang quietly. "And in his aquarium, he had a hippocampus. E - I - E - I - O. With a moo, moo here. And a moo, moo there. Here a moo. There a moo. Everywhere a moo, moo. My dad, Poseidon, had an aquarium.               E - I - E - I - O."

          I decided to sing some gobbledegook, too. "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight. In the jungle, the mighty jungle, I hunt the lion tonight."

          Faith chuckles and thinks of another thing to sing. "The itsy - bitsy spider climbed up the waterspout. Down came Dad's rain and washed the spider out. Out came Apollo's sun and dried up all the rain, and the itsy - bitsy spider scared Athena's kids away."

          Now that I realize, my brother, Hunter, is deeply afraid of spiders. I decided to sing the next song in my mind, since it was (embarrassingly) true. One son of Artemis jumps on his bed. He falls off and hits his head. My brother calls the doctor and the doctor says, "Stop the son of Artemis from jumping on the bed!"

          Just as I end the song, I hear the Hunters quarreling with Artemis. "Walking is tiring! Can't we take a plane or something?"

          "We're almost out of Nevada, girls," Artemis scolds them.

          "Plane! Plane! Plane!" they chant.

          I walk over to Artemis and say, "I don't really want to go by plane. It's nauseating."

          "If the girls want to go, we'll have to."

           "Aw."

          Artemis rubs my shoulder compassionately. "I'll sit next to you just in case, Nicole."

          It felt as if Artemis was really my mum and she knew it. I felt like her real son for the first time — other than her saying my alias instead of my real name. "Thanks, mum — Um, ma'am."

           She gave me a weird look and we headed over to the airport. The airport procedures were just the same as last time. Unlike last time, though, none of the coppers noticed any of our bows and arrows in quivers. We were able to get past the security checkpoint easily. The plane ride sucked so bad. There was way too much turbulence. I ended up vomiting in the middle of departure. Mum luckily held out a bag for me to throw up in and even patted my back. I didn't get one spot on me, the seats, or my mum.

          Landing was worse. My ears felt worse than last time we landed in Nevada. I kept kicking in the seat in front to distract myself from the pain. The person in front of me did not help. "Stop kicking my seat, young lady," she complained.

          "Sorry," I apologized. "I don't feel well."

           The woman scoffed at me and gave me a rude look. Mum came to my rescue. "Excuse me," she sternly remarked, "but the young lady sitting next to me is feeling unwell. Do not give her a harder time."

          "Huh, sorry," she insincerely apologized.

           Once we got off the plane, I developed a horrid stomach ache. I wanted to wait until we arrived at Camp Half - Blood to throw up again. We rode in a taxi and arrived in ten minutes. I ran to the outhouse and threw up in the white seats with water in them. The only problem was I didn't know how to get rid of it. I stood there, thinking about what to do. I saw a handle and pushed down. The water swirled inward and filled with new, clean water. I washed my hands, and went out of there.