THE HEALER| Heroes of Olympus

six

The morning air smelled of irrigation, warm plants, and fertilized earth. Not a bad smell. It reminded me of my home in Kentucky and how I used to go horse riding with my mom. 

Percy was the first to notice me. He smiled in greeting, which for some reason surprised me. He was wearing faded jeans and a fresh orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, as if he'd never been away from the Greek side. The new clothes had probably helped his mood—and of course the fact that he was standing at the rail with his arm around Annabeth.

I glanced toward Jasper who was already looking at me. We made eye contact for a few seconds before we both looked away. He stood on the opposite side of the deck as I did. It was the first time he hadn't followed me around like a lost puppy.

 I almost missed his presence. 

Almost.

"So!" Annabeth said drawing my attention back to her.  "Here we are. What's the plan?"

"I want to check out the highway," I said. "Find the sign that says Topeka 32."

Leo spun his Wii controller in a circle, and the sails lowered themselves. 

"We shouldn't be far," he said. "Festus and I calculated the landing as best we could. What do you expect to find at the mile marker?"

I tried to explain to them what I saw about a man in purple with a goblet. I left out the rest about Percy, Jason, Piper, Jasper and me drowning. Thought I felt Jasper's piercing eyes on me. 

"Purple shirt?" Jason asked. "Vines on his hat? Sounds like Bacchus."

"Dionysus," Percy muttered. "If we came all the way to Kansas to see Mr. D—"

"Bacchus isn't so bad," Jason said. "I don't like his followers much...."Piper shuddered. Jason, Leo, and her had had an encounter with the maenads a few months ago and almost gotten torn to pieces.

Percy looked appalled. "Whatever, man. Maybe he's better on the Roman side. But why would he be hanging around in Kansas? Didn't Zeus order the gods to cease all contact with mortals?"

Frank grunted. The big guy was wearing a blue tracksuit this morning, like he was ready to go for a jog in the sunflowers."The gods haven't been very good at following that order," he noted. "Besides, if the gods have gone schizophrenic like Hazel said—"

"And Leo said," added Leo.

Frank scowled at him. "Then who knows what's going on with the Olympians? Could be some pretty bad stuff out there."

"Sounds dangerous!" Leo agreed cheerfully. "Well...you guys have fun. I've got to finish repairs on the hull. Coach Hedge is gonna work on the broken crossbows. And, uh, Annabeth—I could really use your help. You're the only other person who even sort of understands engineering."

Annabeth looked apologetically at Percy. "He's right. I should stay and help."

"I'll come back to you." He kissed her on the cheek. "Promise."

They were so easy together, it made my heart ache.

Frank slid his bow off his shoulder and propped it against the rail. "I think I should turn into a crow or something and fly around, keep an eye out for Roman eagles."

"Why a crow?" Leo asked. "Man, if you can turn into a dragon, why don't you just turn into a dragon every time? That's the coolest."

Frank's face looked like it was being infused with cranberry juice. "That's like asking why you don't bench-press your maximum weight every time you lift. Because it's hard, and you'd hurt yourself. Turning into a dragon isn't easy."