Page 13 of The Wild Zone

“He tried charmspeak on harpies!” said the second, motioning to Harper.

“And her with the huge smile?” said the third. (Pretty sure that was about me.) “More teeth than Charybdis!”

I clamped my mouth shut. So much for my mom saying I had a good teeth-to-gums ratio.

The first harpy wiped away tears of laughter. “Too much for harpies’ stomachs.”

“They are so full of themselves, they would taste terrible,” agreed the second.

“A different punishment, then,” said the third.

All three heads swiveled in our direction. “Kitchen patrol!” they said in unison.

“Every night, two weeks,” said the first.

I exchanged looks with Benny, Harper, and Zuri.

“That…doesn’t sound so bad,” ventured Benny.

He shouldn’t have said that.

The harpies laughed even harder.

“Then you can start now!” said the first. “It is technically still night!”

“Yes!” the second cried with glee. “There is still much garbage behind the dining hall.”

“Go!” said the third harpy. “Take garbage to the Pit!”

“The Pit?” I asked. “What is that?”

“It is a pit.” The second harpy tilted her head. “This new camper is not so bright.”

The third harpy pointed with her wing. “Go past the dining pavilion. You will find the holy circle.”

Zuri crossed her arms. “It’s gotta be four in the morning. We’re not in any shape to find some holy circle of garbage.”

“Or we could eat you.” The first harpy stretched her lips into a wide smile. “Harpies would need antacids afterward. You seem very acidic. But it might be worth it.”

“Zuri’s just kidding!” Harper yelped. “We’ll take care of that garbage, no problem. Right, team?”

Without waiting for a response, Harper herded the rest of us toward the dining pavilion.

The harpies let us go, but I could feel their beady eyes on my back, watching to make sure we were headed in the right direction.

I glanced at the woods. Still no sign of Grant.

“Maybe this is good,” I mumbled, mostly to myself. “Maybe we’ll take all the heat, and Grant can slip in without getting caught.”

“I still can’t believe you just left him,” Benny muttered.

I threw my hands in the air. “Grant promised he had a plan! Doesn’t he seem like the kind of guy who would have a plan?”

I looked to Harper and Zuri for help.

Zuri shrugged. “Maybe. But around here, it seems like you have to have a plan, a backup plan, and a backup backup plan.”

Harper squinted at her. “And what was your plan back there? If you were trying to get us eaten by harpies, you were doing a great job.”