This Cold Year ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase²

―xvii. to grandmother's house we go

NAOMI WAS RELIEVED WHEN THE WHEELS FELL OFF.

Arion seemed to bend time and space as he ran, blurring the landscape. Ella wasn't helping. She kept muttering: "Seven hundred and fifty miles per hour. Eight hundred. Eight hundred and three. Fast. Very fast." 

The horse sped north across Puget Sound, zooming past islands and fishing boats and very startled pods of whales. He rocketed onto dry land, following a highway north, running so fast that the cars seemed to be standing still.

Finally, the chariot wheels began to smoke.

"Hazel!" Frank yelled. "We're breaking up!" 

She got the message and pulled the reins. The horse didn't seem happy about it, but he slowed to subsonic as they zipped through the city streets. They crossed a bridge and the chariot started to rattle dangerously. At last Arion stopped at the top of a wooded hill. He snorted with satisfaction as the chariot collapsed, spilling Naomi Percy, Frank, and Ella onto the wet, mossy ground.

Naomi struggled to her feet as the world settled back into place. Frank stumbled to his own feet, blinking rapidly. Percy groaned and started unhitching Arion from the ruined chariot. Ella fluttered around in dizzy circles, bonking into the trees and muttering, "Tree. Tree. Tree." 

Only Hazel seemed unaffected by the ride. Grinning with pleasure, she slid off the horse's back. "That was fun!"

"Fun?" Naomi panted.

"Yeah." Frank looked like he was two seconds away from puking. "So much fun."

Arion whinnied.

"He says he needs to eat," Percy translated. "No wonder. He probably burned about six million calories."

Hazel studied the ground at her feet and frowned. "I'm not sensing any gold around here... Don't worry, Arion. I'll find you some. In the meantime, why don't you go graze? We'll meet you—"

The horse zipped off, leaving a trail of steam in his wake.

Hazel knit her eyebrows. "Do you think he'll come back?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "He seems kind of... spirited."

They started salvaging supplies from the wreckage of the chariot. There had been a few boxes of random Amazon merchandise in the front, and Ella shrieked with delight when she found a shipment of books. She snatched up a copy of The Birds of North America, fluttered to the nearest branch, and began scratching through the pages so fast, Naomi couldn't tell if she was reading or shredding.

After everyone caught their breath, Frank stood up a little straighter. "I'm practically home," he said. "My grandmother's house is right over there." 

Hazel squinted. "How far?"

"Just over the river and through the woods."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? To Grandmother's house we go?"

Naomi laughed from under his arm.

Frank cleared his throat. "Yeah, anyway."

Hazel clasped her hands in prayer. "Frank, please tell me she'll let us spend the night. I know we're on a deadline, but we've got to rest, right? And Arion saved us some time. Maybe we could get an actual cooked meal?"

"And a hot shower?" Percy pleaded. 

Naomi gasped with delight. "And a bed? Please?" 

"It's worth a try," Frank said after a moment of consideration. "To Grandmother's house we go."