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"We will never make it," Zoe said. "We are moving too slow. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."
"Mooo," Bessie said. He swam next to Percy as they jogged along the waterfront.
They'd left the shopping center pier far behind. They were heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was a lot farther than Elaine realized. The sun was already dipping in the west.
"I don't get it," Elaine said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"
"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoe said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."
"What happens if we miss it?"
"Tomorrow is winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."
"We need a car," Thalia said.
"But what about Bessie?" Percy asked.
Grover stopped in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"
"Well, yeah," Percy said. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."
"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover said. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."
"But he was following me" Percy said. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"
"Moo," Bessie said forlornly.
"I ... I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him."
Percy stared at him, like he was thinking of a million reasons why he shouldn't.
"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover said. "It makes sense."
He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.
"The blessing of the Wild," Grover said. "That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."
Elaine didn't understand how they could possibly swim back to Long Island from California, but no one else was questioning it, so she kept her confusion to herself.
"Dad," Percy said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."
"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia said. "Something big."
Elaine thought for a second. They didn't really have anything of value to offer the sea god. Then she shrugged off her coat and handed it to Percy. "Here." She told him. He looked at it contemplatively.
