Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief

My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting

We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against theCamaro. Rain lashed the windshield. I didn't know how my mom could seeanything, but she kept her foot on the gas.Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to mein the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing somekind of shag-carpet trousers. But, no, the smell was one I remembered fromkindergarten field trips to the petting zoo – lanolin, like from wool. The smell ofa wet barnyard animal.All I could think to say was, 'So, you and my mum... know each other?'Grover's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behindus. 'Not exactly,' he said. 'I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew Iwas watching you.''Watching me?''Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking beingyour friend,' he added hastily. 'I am your friend.''Um... what are you, exactly?''That doesn't matter right now.''It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey –'Grover let out a sharp, throaty 'Blaa-ha-ha!'I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was anervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.'Goat!' he cried.'What?''I'm a goat from the waist down.''You just said it didn't matter.''Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you under hoof for such aninsult!''Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like... Mr Brunner's myths?''Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs Dodds amyth?''So you admit there was a Mrs Dodds!''Of course.''Then why –''The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract,' Grover said, like thatshould be perfectly obvious. 'We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hopedyou'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You startedto realize who you are.''Who I – wait a minute, what do you mean?'The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer thanbefore. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.'Percy,' my mom said, 'there's too much to explain and not enough time. Wehave to get you to safety.''Safety from what? Who's after me?''Oh, nobody much,' Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkeycomment. 'Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions.''Grover!''Sorry, Mrs Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?'I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. Iknew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream upsomething this weird.My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing pastdarkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWNSTRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.'Where are we going?' I asked.'The summer camp I told you about.' My mother's voice was tight; she wastrying for my sake not to be scared. 'The place your father wanted to send you.''The place you didn't want me to go.''Please, dear,' my mother begged. 'This is hard enough. Try to understand.You're in danger.''Because some old ladies cut yarn.''Those weren't old ladies,' Grover said. 'Those were the Fates. Do you knowwhat it means – the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that whenyou're about to... when someone's about to die.''Whoa. You said "you".''No I didn't. I said "someone".''You meant "you". As in me.''I meant you, like "someone". Not you, you.''Boys!' my mom said.She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'dswerved to avoid – a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.'What was that?' I asked.'We're almost there,' my mother said, ignoring my question. 'Another mile.Please. Please. Please.'I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car,anticipating, wanting us to arrive.Outside, nothing but rain and darkness – the kind of empty countryside youget way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs Dodds and themoment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leatherywings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human.She'd meant to kill me.Then I thought about Mr Brunner... and the sword he had thrown me. BeforeI could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was ablinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried and hosed downall at the same time.I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, 'Ow.''Percy!' my mom shouted.'I'm okay....'I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded.We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. Theroof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.Lightning. That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off theroad. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. 'Grover!'He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook hisfurry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my bestfriend and I don't want you to die!Then he groaned, 'Food,' and I knew there was hope.'Percy,' my mother said, 'we have to...' Her voice faltered.I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rearwindshield, I saw a figure lumbering towards us on the shoulder of the road. Thesight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like afootball player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top halfwas bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.I swallowed hard. 'Who is –''Percy,' my mother said, deadly serious. 'Get out of the car.'My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut inthe mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof.It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.'Climb out the passenger's side!' my mother told me. 'Percy – you have torun. Do you see that big tree?''What?'Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw thetree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas-tree-sized pine at the crest of thenearest hill.'That's the property line,' my mom said. 'Get over that hill and you'll see abig farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don'tstop until you reach the door.''Mom, you're coming, too.'Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.'No!' I shouted. 'You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover.''Food!' Grover moaned, a little louder.The man with the blanket on his head kept coming towards us, making hisgrunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding ablanket over his head, because his hands – huge meaty hands – were swinging athis sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too bigto be his head... was his head. And the points that looked like horns...'He doesn't want us,' my mother told me. 'He wants you. Besides, I can'tcross the property line.''But...''We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please.'I got mad, then – mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing withhorns that was lumbering towards us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. 'We're goingtogether. Come on, Mom.''I told you –''Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover.'I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from thecar. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if mymom hadn't come to my aid.Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumblinguphill through wet waist-high grass.Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall,easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine– bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballsunder vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear – I mean, brightwhite Fruit-of-the-Looms, which would've been funny except for the top half ofhis body. Coarse brown hair started at about his bellybutton and got thicker as itreached his shoulders.His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head,which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring,cruel black eyes, and horns – enormous black-and-white horns with points youjust couldn't get from an electric sharpener.I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories MrBrunner told us. But he couldn't be real.I blinked the rain out of my eyes. 'That's –''Pasiphae's son,' my mother said. 'I wish I'd known how badly they want tokill you.''But a he's a min–''Don't say his name,'she warned. 'Names have power.'The pine tree was still way too far – a hundred metres uphill at least.I glanced behind me again.The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows – or not looking,exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since wewere only about fifteen metres away.'Food?' Grover moaned.'Shhh,' I told him. 'Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?''His sight and hearing are terrible,' she said. 'He goes by smell. But he'llfigure out where we are soon enough.'As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro bythe torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his headand threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in ashower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tankexploded.Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.Oops.'Percy,' my mom said. 'When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the lastsecond, then jump out of the way – directly sideways. He can't change directionvery well once he's charging. Do you understand?''How do you know all this?''I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expectedthis. I was selfish, keeping you near me.''Keeping me near you? But –'Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.He'd smelled us.The pine tree was only a few more metres, but the hill was getting steeper andslicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. 'Go, Percy!Separate! Remember what I said.'I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right – it was our onlychance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me.His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight atmy chest.The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I couldnever outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped tothe side.The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustrationand turned, but not towards me this time, towards my mother, who was settingGrover down in the grass.We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley,just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellowthrough the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, whowas now retreating slowly downhill, back towards the road, trying to lead themonster away from Grover.'Run, Percy!'she told me. 'I can't go any further. Run!'But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried tosidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His handshot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as shestruggled, kicking and pummelling the air.'Mom!'She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: 'Go!'Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother'sneck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering goldenform, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she wassimply... gone.'No!'Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs – the samerush of energy I'd got when Mrs Dodds grew talons.The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. Themonster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to liftGrover up and make him dissolve too.I couldn't allow that.I stripped off my red rain jacket.'HEY!' I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster.'Hey, stupid! Ground beef!''Raaaarrrrr!' The monster turned towards me, shaking his meaty fists.I had an idea – a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. I put my back to thebig pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jumpout of the way at the last moment.But it didn't happen like that.The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I triedto dodge.Time slowed down.My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking offfrom the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair and landingon his neck.How did I do that? I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, themonster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teethout.The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms aroundhis horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still goingstrong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He shouldhave just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting torealize that this thing had only one gear: forward.Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him toshut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bitemy own tongue off.'Food!' Grover moaned.The bull-man wheeled towards him, pawed the ground again, and got ready tocharge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made herdisappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got bothhands around one horn and I pulled backwards with all my might. The monstertensed, gave a surprised grunt, then – snap!The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my backin the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision wasblurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.The monster charged.Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monsterbarrelled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under hisfurry rib cage.The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began todisintegrate – not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumblingsand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs Dodds had burstapart.The monster was gone.The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. Ismelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it wassplitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief. I'd just seen mymother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing myhelp, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, towards thelights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on toGrover – I wasn't going to let him go.The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at aceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light and the sternfaces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blonde hair curledlike Cinderella's. They both looked down at me, and the girl said, 'He's the one.He must be.''Silence, Annabeth,' the man said. 'He's still conscious. Bring him inside.'