the terrible luck of never actually encountering monsters. I didn ' t choose a female companion for the very reason that I wanted to make Percy jealous.
Thunderboy looked between Percy and I and then nodded.
I led the native gentleman off the path and out into the grasslands. We walked some ways off from the group before I took out my binoculars to scan the distance for signs of life. I had not spoken to Thunderboy for some time, and to my surprise his first words were, " You love that boy?" " I most certainly do not!" I said indignantly. " He has upset you?" " Of course not. There may be a respectable friendship between us, but it is more of a work relationship." I made certain to stress this point. I did not want people to start talking about Percy and I being " attached!"
" You like that boy," he said, a little too matter-of-factly.
Well, I was not going to stand for that. Polite questions can be tolerated, but bold declarative statements with no basis in fact? I said, " You are a stranger to our party, so you may not know that it is rude to make such bold statements towards a respectable English lady!"
" You are jealous of the little pictures? The pictures of women?"
" Well, I never!" I said. He may have had some insight, but it was still much too informal of an approach for a mere acquaintance. " If I knew you were going to ask me such invasive questions, I wouldn ' t have invited you on this..."
And while my attitude was a trifle unladylike, my emotions quite got away from me. I was so busy disagreeing that I hardly noticed the bandits riding their humanoid machines that surrounded us.
Thunderboy produced a spear that he carried, which, at the time, I thought he was threatening me with— for being so vocal. " I daresay!" I cried,