Rick Riordan The Titan’ s Curse- 03
" We need to go upstream," Zoe said. It was the first time I ' d heard her speak since the junkyard, and I was worried about how bad she sounded, like somebody with the flu. " The rapids are too swift." " Leave that to me," I said. We put the canoes in the water. Thalia pulled me aside as we were getting the oars. " Thanks for back there." " Don ' t mention it." " Can you really …" She nodded to the rapids. " You know." " I think so. Usually I ' m good with water." " Would you take Zoe?" she asked. " I think, ah, maybe you can talk to her." " She ' s not going to like that." " Please? I don ' t know if I can stand being in the same boat with her. She ' s … she ' s starting to worry me." It was about the last thing I wanted to do, but I nodded. Thalia ' s shoulders relaxed. " I owe you one." " Two." " One and a half," Thalia said. She smiled, and for a second, I remembered that I actually liked her when she wasn ' t yelling at me. She turned and helped Grover get their canoe into the water. As it turned out, I didn ' t even need to control the currents. As soon as we got in the river, I looked over the edge of the boat and found a couple of naiads staring at me. They looked like regular teenage girls, the kind you ' d see in any mall, except for the fact that they were underwater. Hey, I said. They made a bubbling sound that may have been giggling. I wasn ' t sure. I had a hard time understanding naiads. We ' re heading upstream, I told them. Do you think you could— Before I could even finish, the naiads each chose a canoe and began pushing us up the river. We started so fast Grover fell into his canoe with his hooves sticking up in the air. " I hate naiads," Zoe grumbled. A stream of water squirted up from the back of the boat and hit Zoe in the face. " She-devils!" Zoe went for her bow. " Whoa," I said. " They ' re just playing." " Cursed water spirits. They ' ve never forgiven me." " Forgiven you for what?" She slung her bow back over her shoulder. " It was a long time ago. Never mind." We sped up the river, the cliffs looming up on either side of us. " What happened to Bianca wasn ' t your fault," I told her. " It was my fault. I let her go." I figured this would give Zoe an excuse to start yelling at me. At least that might shake her out of feeling depressed.
Instead, her shoulders slumped. " No, Percy. I pushed her into going on the quest. I was too anxious. She was a powerful half-blood. She had a kind heart, as well. I … I thought she would be the next lieutenant." " But you ' re the lieutenant." She gripped the strap of her quiver. She looked more tired than I ' d ever seen her. " Nothing can last forever, Percy. Over two thousand years I have led the Hunt, and my wisdom has not improved. Now Artemis herself is in danger." " Look, you can ' t blame yourself for that." " If I had insisted on going with her—" " You think you could ' ve fought something powerful enough to kidnap Artemis? There ' s nothing you could have done." Zoe didn ' t answer. The cliffs along the river were getting taller. Long shadows fell across the water, making it a lot colder, even though the day was bright.
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