The Riptides: Percy's Sister (Percy Jackson And The Olympians)

Book One, Chapter Fifteenth 1.15

The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, our train rolled into Denver. We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. We hadn't taken a shower since Half Blood Hill and I was sure that was pretty obvious.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

"We can't use phones, right?" Percy said.

"I'm not talking about phones."

"Then what are you talking about?" I asked.

She ignored my question as we wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though I wasn't sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was hot and dry, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere we turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at me, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.

Finally we found an empty do it yourself car wash. We veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. We were four adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure we were up to no good.

"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked, as Grover took out the spray gun.

"It's seventy five cents," Grover grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

"Don't look at me," she said. "The dining car wiped me out."

Percy fished out a bit of change and passed Grover a quarter.

"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good and my arm gets tired of pumping."

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

He fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing."

"Instant messaging?" I asked.

"Iris messaging," Annabeth corrected. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half bloods."

"Isn't that Hermes's job?" I asked.

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?" Percy said.

Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."

Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors.

Annabeth held her palm out to Percy. "Drachma, please."

He handed it over.

She raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering."

She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer.

"Half Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then I was looking through the mist at strawberry fields and the Long Island Sound in the distance. We seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to us at the railing was a sandy haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

"Luke!" Percy called.

He turned, eyes wide. I could swear he was standing three feet in front of me through a screen of mist, except I could only see the part of him that appeared in the rainbow.

"Percy! Molly!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"We're... uh... fine," Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening her dirty shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face. "We thought- Chiron- I mean-"