cacoethes |PERCY JACKSON| [book 2]

XXIX

THEY RACED THROUGH MARSHY FIELDS of high grass and ponds and stunted trees.

Finally, they found themselves in a trailer park at the edge of a lake. The trailers were all horse trailers, tricked out with televisions and mini-refrigerators and mosquito netting. They were in a centaur camp.

"Dude!" said a party pony as he unloaded his gear. "Did you see that bear guy? He was all like: 'Whoa, I have an arrow in my mouth!'"

The centaur with the googly-eye glasses laughed. "That was awesome! Head slam!"

The two centaurs charged at each other full-force and knocked heads, then went staggering off in different directions with crazy grins on their faces.

Chiron sighed. He set Annabeth and Grover down on a picnic blanket next to Selena and Percy. "I really wish my cousins wouldn't slam their heads together. They don't have the brain cells to spare."

"Chiron," Percy said, still stunned by the fact that he was in front of them. "You saved us."

He gave Percy a dry smile. "Well now, I couldn't very well let you die, especially since you've cleared my name."

"But how did you know where we were?" Annabeth asked.

"Advanced planning, my dear. I figured you would wash up near Miami if you made it out of the Sea of Monsters alive. Almost everything strange washes up near Miami."

"Gee, thanks," Grover mumbled.

"No, no," Chiron said. "I didn't mean ... Oh, never mind. I am glad to see you, my young satyr. The point is, I was able to eavesdrop on Percy's Iris-message and trace the signal. Iris and I have been friends for centuries. I asked her to alert me to any important communications in this area. It then took no effort to convince my cousins to ride to your aid. As you see, centaurs can travel quite fast when we wish to. Distance for us is not the same as distance for humans."

Percy looked over at the campfire, where three party ponies were teaching Tyson to operate a paintball gun. Percy hoped they knew what they were getting into.

"So what now?" Selena asked Chiron. "We just let Luke sail away? He's got Kronos aboard that ship."

"Or parts of him, anyway." Percy mumbled,

Chiron knelt, carefully folding his front legs underneath him. He opened the medicine pouch on his belt and started to treat Percy's wounds. "I'm afraid, Percy, that today has been something of a draw. We didn't have the strength of numbers to take that ship. Luke was not organized enough to pursue us. Nobody won."

"But we got the Fleece!" Annabeth said. "Clarisse is on her way back to camp with it right now."

Chiron nodded, though he still looked uneasy. "You are all true heroes. And as soon as we get Percy fixed up, you must return to Half-Blood Hill. The centaurs shall carry you."

"You're coming, too?" Percy asked.

"Oh yes, Percy. I'll be relieved to get home. My brethren here simply do not appreciate Dean Martin's music. Besides, I must have some words with Mr. D. There's the rest of the summer to plan. So much training to do. And I want to see ... I'm curious about the Fleece."

Percy didn't know exactly what he meant, but it made him worried about what Luke had said: 'I was going to let you take the Fleece ... once I was done with it.'

Had he just been lying? Percy had learned with Kronos there was usually a plan within a plan. The Titan lord wasn't called the Crooked One for nothing. He had ways of getting people to do what he wanted without them ever realizing his true intentions.

Over by the campfire, Tyson let loose with his paintball gun. A blue projectile splattered against one of the centaurs, hurling him backward into the lake. The centaur came up grinning, covered in swamp muck and blue paint, and gave Tyson two thumbs up.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "perhaps you, Selena, and Grover would go supervise Tyson and my cousins before they, ah, teach each other too many bad habits?"

Annabeth met his eyes. Some kind of understanding passed between them, "Sure, Chiron," Annabeth said, her and Selena standing, "Come on, goat boy."

"But I don't like paintball."

"Yes, you do." Selena hoisted Grover to his hooves and led him off toward the campfire. She looked back at Percy and gave him a small smile,

She knew what they were going to talk about. The prophecy. She was hoping that now, she wouldn't have to keep it from Percy.

"Everything is going to change now." Annabeth sighed, squeezing Selena's hand.

Selena shook her head, "Everything started to change when Percy showed up last year. We just need to keep him alive. And hope he makes the right decision."